KSJ recycling center in Jena wins German Environmental Aid's "Green Recycling Center" competition

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has named the northern recycling center in Jena as the winner of the "Green Recycling Center" competition in the "Large District-Free City" category. The recycling center impresses with its excellent environmental education and service offering as well as its strong commitment to the reuse and repair of old products. The official presentation of the certificate to the operator Kommunalservice Jena (KSJ) will take place on 28.02.2024 in the presence of Jena's Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche. With the "Green Recycling Center" competition, DUH wants to draw attention to the importance of environmentally friendly recycling center concepts and initiate nationwide improvements.

"Recycling centers are of central importance to citizens as a point of contact for the disposal of recyclable and hazardous materials. By promoting waste avoidance, reuse and high-quality recycling, they can make a decisive contribution to climate and resource protection. This is exactly what the Recycling Center North in Jena does in an exemplary manner. Well-preserved items such as bicycles, books and household goods are reused via a swap house and cooperation with a repair café and other associations. At the same time, the recycling center provides valuable educational work and makes it particularly easy to dispose of recyclable and hazardous materials thanks to its attractive opening hours, low-lying containers and other services. We are therefore honoring the exemplary commitment of the KSJ with the 'Green Recycling Center' award," says DUH Federal Managing Director Barbara Metz.

Uwe Feige, Plant Manager of the KSJ:

"For our municipal waste management, 'standing still is going backwards'. Because we see ourselves as a service provider for the entire urban community, we recognize and react to changes in demand. Reuse and recycling have long been a requirement of society as a whole, as have integration and inclusion. This is why we have also integrated people with disabilities with the expanded 'Tauschhaus 2.0' service for exchanging reusable consumer goods. They are responsible for this range of services independently, just like the service, gardening and e-waste areas."

Thomas Nitzsche, Lord Mayor of Jena:

"Kommunalservice Jena shows how ecological and service-oriented demands from citizens can be implemented. The award from Deutsche Umwelthilfe is proof of our outstanding recycling center concept. As a result, we succeeded in collecting more than 7,500 tons of recyclable and hazardous materials in 2022 and recycling them in an environmentally friendly manner. More than 40 different types of waste are now collected separately at the northern recycling center. That is 14 types more than in 2014. This broad approach and the excellent communication with citizens are the cornerstones of our outstanding municipal service."

In the second round, DUH honors exemplary recycling centers within the municipal competition "Green Recycling Center". The Warngau recycling center was already awarded on September 28, 2023, the Leppe disposal center on October 12, 2023 and the Recyclinghof Plus Gradestraße in Berlin on November 16, 2023.