Garbage everywhere! Saxony’s cities have a dirty problem

Garbage everywhere! Saxony’s cities have a dirty problem

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Leipzig and Dresden complain about increasing littering of the parks. The party people are withdrawing into these due to the closure of the clubs.

Dresden / Leipzig – Are parks the new clubs now? The trend, which is not only due to the summer, but above all a pandemic-related trend, is causing frustration among city administrations. Namely about the unsightly legacies of the party people.

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“Especially during the period of exit restrictions, many parts of the population discovered urban greenery for themselves. Often, however, there is generally more waste in the summer months, since many people use the nice weather to grill, picnic in the green areas or use them as exercise areas.” , describes the Dresden city spokesman Karl Schuricht.

Master gardener Jens Zappe (58) and his team from the “Central Technical Services Directorate” regularly clean the rose garden.

This is very popular with partiers because of its location on the banks of the Elbe. “Here it is not just garbage left behind, but also vandalism and graffiti that we then have to take care of,” says Zappe.

“The number of visitors and the amount of waste also increased in the Great Garden,” says Claudia Rimek-Isaack from the operator “Schlösserland Sachsen”.

But it’s not just party and barbecue leftovers as well as packaging of to-go food that get left behind. “In the past two years, more than 400 tons of residual waste, bulky waste and green waste have been removed from public areas,” said city spokesman Schuricht.

Sad trend: If in 2018 a total of 414 tonnes had to be disposed of separately, last year 418 tonnes were generated in the state capital.

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Leipzig, meanwhile the most populous city in Saxony (around 600,000 inhabitants), is also struggling with outdoor rubbish.

“During the Corona-related Closure of restaurants and snack bars and the associated ‘out-of-home’ sales also resulted in a significant increase in to-go packaging in the public waste paper bins .

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