Bernburg. You get what you pay for! What goes without saying for private residents will in future also apply to the towns and parishes in the Salzlandkreis district, which have had their green waste disposed of free of charge in recent years by the district’s public works department (KWB). District Administrator Markus Bauer and Operations Manager Dirk Trappe have jointly drawn attention to this. “Everything can stay as it is – provided that the cost of green waste disposal outside the campaign periods in spring and autumn is paid for in future!”
The reason for the clarification: following a detailed evaluation, the new operations manager has established that only one town has recently paid for the year-round provision and collection of green waste containers in its towns and cities and for the disposal of the green waste in accordance with the regulations. All other towns and municipalities not only disposed of the green waste from private households via the containers, but also their own, at least some of the time. At least the KWB has no other information, despite being requested to do so. Some towns and municipalities even use the service all year round.
This means that they have been using the KWB's services free of charge since at least April 2023 - knowing full well that, based on new legal requirements at the time, strict attention must be paid to so-called areas of origin when disposing of waste. Last year alone, the KWB provided services for almost 273,000 euros with 544 transported green waste containers - without compensation from the cities and municipalities. The other areas of origin specifically include green waste from municipal maintenance and upkeep measures.
Based on the amendment to the statutes, the free disposal of green waste from the cities and municipalities via the containers provided for private fee payers with brown bins was no longer permitted at that time, which is why the administrations had to ensure that the requirements for the disposal of green waste were met in a similar way to those at the recycling centres. There was largely no response from the cities and municipalities to a letter from the KWB dated 4 April 2023. A few weeks ago, the new operations manager sought dialogue with the main administrative officials once again as part of the takeover of operations management and on behalf of the district administrator in order to point out the need to ensure compliance with the statutes.
Operations manager Dirk Trappe emphasises: "For years, we have provided a service that was not priced into the fee calculation on this scale and was therefore ultimately at the expense of the general fee payers. If green waste containers are to continue to be available to citizens all year round, the towns and municipalities will have to pay for the associated costs. Quite simply!"
This makes it clear that the decision to levy green waste free of charge for citizens all year round is made by the respective town or municipality, not by the Salzland district or the district administration. The details are known to all those responsible.
District Administrator Markus Bauer says that he naturally understands the current displeasure in the towns and municipalities, because a financially very pleasant situation for the administrations of the towns and municipalities in the Salzland district is changing. However, he emphasises that there are no legal options based on the statutes of the Eigenbetrieb that would allow the previous procedure. Nor is it feasible from a business perspective. "It is quite clear that the costs incurred must be paid for and not passed on to others. Otherwise, the cities and municipalities are evading the principle of solidarity!"
Finally, Markus Bauer emphasises that if the desire for free services from the KWB for the towns and municipalities continues to exist, a political decision by the district council as part of an amendment to the statutes is certainly conceivable. "If there is a desire to do otherwise, we will have to discuss how this can be done."