Volunteers collected garbage in Frankfurt. During the cleanup, considerable quantities of nitrous oxide cartridges were found.
At the fourth “MainCleanUp” in Frankfurt, volunteers collected a total of 350 kilograms of garbage on Saturday, September 14. This included coffee-to-go cups, plastic and glass bottles, and 90 kilograms of nitrous oxide cartridges – more than ever before in such an event. The city of Frankfurt am Main reported this in a press release on Wednesday.
Climate and Environment Minister Tina Zapf-Rodríguez warned of the dangers of nitrous oxide cartridges: On the one hand, they are a serious problem for health, because the short high from the party drug can have serious consequences, and on the other hand, for the environment, because nitrous oxide is a climate-damaging propellant.
She also pointed out the disposal problems: “The cartridges must not be disposed of in the residual waste because they can explode or ignite and therefore have to be sorted out at great expense and dismantled in special facilities. They are a risk that is difficult to calculate for any waste disposal company.”
Last year, Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH (FES) found 140,000 cartridges in the garbage as well as in parks and facilities. According to FES, the cost of disposing of them amounts to a six-figure sum. Read more about this topic here.
Campaigns such as the “MainCleanUp” are intended to draw attention to the problem of garbage in public spaces and at the same time educate people about dangerous waste such as laughing gas cartridges. The helpers collected garbage along a roughly two-kilometer-long section of the rowing village on the Main. A small group of stand-up paddlers also took part in the campaign and fished garbage out of the water.
