German district uses football-style yellow and red cards for waste offenders

Landkreis Heilbronn will also enlist the help of sensors to identify incorrectly filled organic trash bins

The last signal of the Euro 2024 has fallen silent already, but it seems that at least in one part of Germany the way referees sanctioned misbehaving players on the pitch has served as an inspiration to sanction residents who keep on putting metal, glass and plastic in organic waste bins. Heilbronn District will also enlist the aid of technology in this by installing truck sensors that detect non-organic items in the organic containers.

The use of yellow and red cards to indicate to residents that they are doing waste sorting incorrectly has been part of the grace period and an unusual to promote awareness and education about the matter.

If contaminants are found during the first inspection, the bin is emptied again but is also given a yellow sticker to indicate the error. If, however, a violation is found during the second collection, the bin is left unemptied - then with a red sticker.

Detectors to ease the work of waste management employees

The yellow and red cards used by the municipalities in this Baden-Württemberg district will likely stay on as they are a necessary reminder to residents to do more and do better and that correct sorting and waste disposal is part of what makes good citizenship in our times.

However, having to manually check each container makes the work of the waste management employees harder and slows down the process causing things like traffic jams. That’s why, starting in August, the waste trucks will be equipped with sensors that can detect whether an organic trash bin also contains things like metal, glass, plastic or minerals from pet toilets.

Similar detectors have already been in use in other German localities, such as Konstanz and Koblenz since last summer.