Starting May 1, new strict rules for sorting organic waste will take effect across Germany.
According to the updates, organic waste can now contain no more than 3% foreign impurities, with plastic making up no more than 1%. Offenders will be identified and fined, and in some regions, modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, have already been introduced.
In the Esslingen district, located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, AI systems are set to be implemented to identify waste sorting violators. In the neighboring Alb-Donau district, around 2,100 containers will be visually inspected this year, with color-coded tags appearing on them: green – all is well, yellow – minor violations, and red – the container will not be collected by waste services.
In Ulm, organic waste containers can be remotely blocked, and access will only be granted after paying a fine of 25 euros. In Munich, trash trucks equipped with cameras and AI, capable of detecting foreign objects in organic waste, are already being tested.
In Erfurt, an identification system has been in place for 15 years, allowing authorities to trace which apartment the waste came from. In cases of systematic violations, containers may be removed, and fines can reach up to 5,000 euros.
