A look inside the organic waste garbage can today

For me personally, the organic waste garbage can is a great thing because it is a good way for everyone to do something for the environment in their own household with little effort. However, this only works if the organic waste garbage can is filled correctly.

Years ago, I started observing how I handle my own waste, no doubt also for professional reasons. For me, this means on the one hand keeping my own waste production as low as possible and on the other hand ensuring that the waste that is produced is sorted correctly. I have to admit that I'm always learning new things and that's a good thing.

Basically, collecting organic waste is not really complicated. Peelings and leftovers from fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds from the machine or other kitchen waste are just as suitable as most garden and plant waste.

But does everything that is considered compostable belong in the organic waste garbage can? There are a few myths and pitfalls that I want to uncover today. In these lines, I am addressing the myth of "compostable" plastics.

For me, the right separation starts when I go shopping. The supermarket shelves are full of products advertised with different messages. Compostable is a term that catches my eye more and more often. It starts with waste bags for organic waste and extends to coffee capsules. It is true that many of these products will eventually decompose. But what many people don't know is that this is often not completely the case. Plastics also take significantly longer to decompose than the actual biowaste. They are therefore laboriously sorted out again in the treatment plants, which costs money and energy. Plastic residues otherwise end up in fertilizer and thus on fields via agriculture.

The solution is often quite simple. Interestingly, many of the following tips were common practice for older generations. So you don't have to reinvent the wheel to do something for the future. Newspapers or paper bags make good and simple packaging for organic waste. And instead of coffee capsules, I have been using the tried-and-tested coffee machine and coffee bag for years. In both cases, waste is produced that is ideal for composting and fermentation. And I don't have to do without anything, which makes the whole thing even easier.

Just how much potential lies dormant in biowaste is shown by figures from the biogas plants in which Offenbach's biowaste is also recycled. Every year, 80,000 tons of biowaste are processed there, from which 8.5 million cubic meters of biogas are obtained. The energy generated from this is enough to supply up to 6,000 households in the surrounding area with green electricity.