Illegally dumped bulky waste on the corner of Burgstrasse and Ritterstrasse in Flensburg – photo taken on July 31, 2024.
A contribution from Jörg Pepmeyerresident of Burgstrasse in Duburg
Following my contribution to yesterday’s city blog Duburg is sinking in garbage, the Flensburger Tageblatt also reports in its online edition about the illegal disposal of garbage in Duburg (without paywall):
However, the increase in illegal dumping of rubbish is not only affecting the Flensburg district of Duburg, but also the neighboring Neustadt, as employees of the Technical Operations Center found, according to TBZ spokeswoman Christina Wolff in the report by shz editor Ove Jensen. Christina Wolff also referred to the TBZ online defect reporter, where citizens can enter relevant reports > .
Unfortunately, Ms. Wolff’s reference to the defect reporter is insufficient and does not really help to solve the garbage problem. After all, someone has to take action and make a report, and even then, in our experience, it usually takes a week or more for the garbage to be removed. After checking, the report is sent to the Flensburg city waste authority, which also tries to find the suspected perpetrator(s). The authority then commissions the TBZ to remove the illegal bulky waste. On the other hand, last year a TBZ employee answered my request by phone for a prompt solution and said that if I needed to do it very quickly, I could book an express appointment for the disposal of illegally dumped bulky waste in Burgstrasse at my own expense – which costs 30 euros > https://www.tbz-flensburg.de/Abfallwirtschaft/Sperrm%C3%BCll/So I had to pay money for rubbish that I wasn’t responsible for. I didn’t find that very helpful.
And so that there are no misunderstandings: Street cleaning and the removal of illegally disposed rubbish is paid for by all residents of Duburg and Neustadt through the rent of their apartments, in which the corresponding street and sidewalk cleaning fees are paid to the TBZ and the waste disposal fees are covered by the additional rental costs. Fees for street cleaning are regulated by the TBZ fee regulations: The street cleaning statutes also regulate which services must be provided by the TBZ. See also the figure “Street cleaning” below.
Illustration Homepage TBZ – Street cleaning
Of course, it is annoying when individual residents of Burgstrasse or elsewhere illegally dump bulky waste on the sidewalks, even though bulky waste is normally disposed of free of charge upon request from the TBZ. Many people are obviously not aware that such behavior by individuals is also a serious administrative offence and thus a clear violation of the law, which is punishable by high fines. The only question is, should all other residents of Duburg or Neustadt now suffer from this, or should the TBZ, as a service provider for all citizens, not offer a solution that is satisfactory for all parties in cooperation with the municipal waste authority?
Wouldn’t it make sense if the garbage collectors who empty the garbage cans in Duburg or Neustadt every week informed the TBZ or a responsible contact person about any irregularities, so to speak through the shortest official channels?
It would also be conceivable for the TBZ to carry out regular, weekly checks on Duburg, including cleaning of the sidewalks, as stated on the TBZ website > soil care/road cleaning/ In case of doubt, the timely removal of illegal bulky waste could then be initiated via the waste authority of the city of Flensburg.
However, as a TBZ employee also told me over the phone last year, this is no longer done to this extent for “cost reasons”, and the information on the homepage is therefore out of date. – As of August 1, 2024, it is still there unchanged.
The TBZ obviously prefers to save money and shift responsibility to the residents of the districts. The services described above are part of the TBZ’s statutory duties. This inevitably raises the question: Can the TBZ decide on its own initiative to no longer adhere to the binding street cleaning statute passed by the council and to reduce its range of services for “cost reasons”?
And what many do not know is that TBZ.Flensburg – an institution under public law – operates as an independent, municipal company and, according to its 2023 annual financial statements, achieved a balance sheet profit of 3.6 million euros, a significant portion of which is contractually transferred to the city of Flensburg.
And that at the expense of Flensburg’s “problem areas” and the people living there? In my opinion, that would not only be morally indecent, but also an expression of a lack of appreciation and latent social racism and classism towards the population of Duburg and Neustadt. As a resident of Duburg, that is unacceptable to me.
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