Jena plastic-free

More and more products are being made from plastics. However, more than 40% of all plastics are only used once. This leads to a global plastic waste problem. In Jena, 34 kg of lightweight packaging was used per inhabitant in 2020. A total of 3,721 tons were collected by Kommunalservice Jena. To make this clearer: This would mean that the entire market square would be "littered" and the Hanfried would no longer be visible at all. The city of Jena wants to counteract this trend and is showing alternatives to plastic products.

MISSIONMEHRWEG launched in Thuringia

MISSIONMEHRWEG, the Thuringia-wide information campaign to switch from disposable to reusable packaging for food and drinks to go, was launched on 01.06.2022. The city of Jena and 14 other Thuringian municipalities are taking on this mission and helping to conserve resources and make our environment cleaner.

MISSIONMEHRWEG is aimed at restaurants, end consumers and local authorities. They are motivated to offer and use reusable tableware for serving and taking away food and drinks, thereby reducing packaging waste and costs. The campaign presents the topic of reusable packaging in an informative, visually clear and easy-to-understand way. The aim is to make it clear to people in Thuringia that resources must be protected and that each individual can make a contribution to this.

The campaign material, consisting of the campaign design, website, Instagram and Facebook presence, poster motif and information flyers, was presented at the campaign launch on June 1, 2022 at Henner Sandwiches in Erfurt. Anthea Swart from Zukunftsfähiges Thüringen e.V. and the creative team, consisting of ECODesign from Weimar and covermade from Erfurt, answered all questions about the campaign content in a relaxed atmosphere with representatives from local authorities, gastronomy and the press.

Fifteen municipalities of different sizes in Thuringia, such as Jena, Sömmerda and Stadtroda, are part of MISSIONMEHRWEG and will draw attention to the topic in the coming months by distributing information material to restaurants, advertising in the cityscape and on social media, among other things. All current information can be found on the MISSIONMEHRWEG campaign website .

The background to the campaign is the amendment to the Packaging Act. From 01.01.2023, restaurateurs throughout Europe must offer reusable packaging in addition to disposable packaging (from five employees or 80 square meters of sales area). In compliance with hygiene regulations, it must also be possible to fill containers brought in by customers. As non-compliance with the new requirements can be interpreted as a competitive advantage, a violation of the new "reusable packaging law" is punishable by law. The campaign is therefore starting early and aims to achieve the widest possible reach by the end of the year.

MISSIONMEHRWEG is backed by the association Zukunftsfähiges Thüringen e.V. The association is a state-wide umbrella organization for sustainable development and sees itself as a working and action platform for the initiation and implementation of sustainability processes and corresponding opportunities for participation.

Participating municipalities

• Arnstadt
• Bad Berka
• Bad Blankenburg
• Bad Köstritz
• Erfurt
• Gera
• Jena
• Mühlhausen
• Saalfeld
• Sömmerda
• Stadtroda
• Weimar
• Nordhausen
• Eisenach
• Bad Tabarz

Plastic waste in Jena

In 2019, a total of 3,788 tons of lightweight packaging was collected via the yellow garbage cans in Jena. That is 34 kg per inhabitant per year. This put Jena slightly above the national average of 32 kg per inhabitant per year in 2019.

Problems

Plastic does not rot. Instead, ageing and decomposition processes create microplastics, which is a major problem. Plastic particles with a size of less than 5 mm are generally referred to as microplastics.

The lightweight plastic particles are distributed worldwide via various transportation routes. Researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute have detected microplastics in snow samples for the first time. This proves that microplastics are not only transported by water, but are also suspended in the atmosphere.

Plastic waste that ends up in the environment harms entire ecosystems and wildlife. Larger pieces of plastic are mistaken for food by marine mammals and birds. 99% of plastic debris is no longer visible as it is ground into microplastics and dispersed. Some plastic parts can become saturated with toxic pollutants, such as carcinogenic chlorine compounds. If these are swallowed by animals, they release the pollutants again.

There are hardly any clear studies on the question of how dangerous microplastics are for humans. Long-term effects on the human body have not yet been investigated. It will be years before researchers understand exactly how microplastics work.

Plastic-free in Jena

What can you do in Jena to reduce your plastic consumption?

Shop unpackaged

Whether large supermarket chains or small stores around the corner, many stores now offer products completely without plastic packaging. This saves vast amounts of packaging materials for everyday products. There are also many opportunities to shop without packaging in Jena. You can find an overview of many packaging-free stores under the links.

Bag sharing

Who hasn't been there? A cupboard full of bags at home and then nothing when you go shopping? And so the next cloth bag comes into the house. Bag-Sharing is an ecologically sustainable project with the aim of establishing a deposit system for cloth bags in Jena. You can simply grab a Bag-Sharing bag for your next spontaneous shopping trip. You can then return the purchased bag sharing bag to the supermarket the next time you go shopping. In order to make the project as sustainable as possible, the majority of the bags are made from second-hand bags that have been donated as part of numerous collection campaigns.

The background to this is that a cloth bag only has a better eco-balance than a plastic bag after 131 uses, as the production of cloth bags is both water and energy-intensive and also uses numerous chemicals that further pollute our environment.

Under the motto "Use again and again instead of wasting again and again", the aim is to make trips to the supermarket a little more sustainable.

Would you like to support our project? Bag-Sharing is happy about every donation of cloth bags. The partners will be happy to accept your bags. Further information can be found under Links.

Refill

The concept of Refill Germany is simple and straightforward: stores with the Refill sticker on the window or door fill tap water free of charge into any drinking container you bring with you. Under the motto "Have your water bottle with you! Protect our environment! Drink enough water! Live healthy! Save money!", the aim is to avoid plastic waste and protect our environment. Many stores in Jena are already taking part. You can find a map of all refill stations in Jena under Links.

Alternatives

Paper bags instead of plastic bags?

Simply replacing the plastic bag with a paper bag is unfortunately not that simple. Paper bags do not have a better eco-balance than plastic bags:

• Fresh paper fibers are predominantly used for production, and there are only a few bags made from genuine recycled paper (look out for the Blue Angel!).
• The production of cellulose for paper bags is extremely energy- and water-intensive.
• To make paper bags as stable as possible, a lot of material and long, chemically treated fibers are required.

Conclusion: It is estimated that paper bags need to be used at least three times as often as a petroleum-based plastic bag in order to balance out the carbon footprint.

Incidentally, bags made from "bioplastics" are also not recommended. These are often made from corn starch. Although maize is a renewable raw material, there is a risk that the cultivation of renewable raw materials will compete with the production of food and animal feed. And a considerable amount of energy is required to produce them. In addition, bioplastic bags take too long to decompose in the composting plant and are therefore not actually composted or recycled. Disposable bags - regardless of the material - should therefore be avoided wherever possible. And if they are unavoidable, they should be used as often as possible.

Disposable? Reusable!

By introducing a deposit on disposable cans and bottles for certain groups of drinks, the German government wanted to increase the reusable quota. This goal has not been achieved. On the contrary: the proportion of drinks in reusable bottles is falling year on year. At 42%, the reusable rate reached a new low in 2017. Yet reusable bottles are an environmentally friendly alternative, and not just for disposable drinks bottles. Reusable nets are now also frequently offered for loose fruit and vegetables.

According to the Society for Packaging Market Research (GVM), disposable products such as to-go packaging and disposable tableware are the cause of high and increasing volumes of waste. Packaging and tableware made of paper or cardboard are not an environmentally friendly alternative here either. Here too, it is better to avoid rather than replace. If a replacement is needed, bring your own coffee cup for to-go coffee or use reusable tableware.

10 tips for everyday life

1. Banish superfluous disposable products from everyday life: Some products are only used for a few minutes and then end up in the bin: plastic tableware, drinking straws or plastic cotton buds, for example. Better: choose the environmentally friendly alternative (reusable tableware) or do without individual products altogether.
2. Take bags, pouches and cans with you: Think about cloth bags or backpacks before you go shopping, this way you can avoid unnecessary plastic bags.
3. Shop at the market: By shopping at the weekly market, you not only support regional traders, but also get fruit and vegetables loose and not shrink-wrapped in plastic. It is best to bring reusable bags or plastic bags that have accumulated at home anyway and use them several times.
4. Avoid Tetrapaks and plastic bottles: Paradoxically, themandatory deposit on disposable cans and bottles has led to an increase in disposable drinks bottles and therefore a decrease in reusable bottles. Therefore, opt for reusable bottles or quench your thirst with tap water without any packaging.
5. Reuse plastic: Not all plastic packaging needs to be thrown away immediately. Empty shower gel, shampoo or detergent bottles can either be refilled in an unpackaged store or you can use refill packs.
6. Cook fresh: Ready-made products often come in a lot of plastic packaging. With fresh ingredients, you can avoid unnecessary plastic when cooking.
7. Take a coffee cup with you: We use 320,000 disposable cups for hot drinks in Germany - every hour! If you can't do without coffee on the go, you should take your own refillable cup with you.
8. Unpackaged stores: Shopping without plastic or disposable packaging is possible in unpackaged stores - even in Jena. Containers you bring with you can simply be refilled here. Give it a try! You can find an overview of many packaging-free stores under the links.
9. Use clothes for a long time: In addition to synthetic clothing, which releases small plastic particles during washing and ultimately ends up in our waters, "fast fashion" has become a problem. Rapidly changing collections and a shortened shelf life of the materials used result in high resource consumption, difficult working conditions and increased environmental pollution. We need to buy less and more consciously, instead of buying new and used. Second-hand stores and online exchange markets and platforms are ideal for this.
10. Collect garbage: It's not a pretty sight: Plastic waste in nature. In Jena, you can take part in the SaalePUTZ organized by the community foundation once a year to clear the banks of the Saale of garbage. But of course, keeping our environment clean is also welcome on the other 364 days of the year. We are happy to support you. With its services, the KSJ teaches a responsible approach to the environment and the careful use of resources. We support daycare centers, schools, clubs and volunteers with educational forestry and waste management activities and/or cleaning campaigns. We are happy to provide comprehensive assistance with your collection or clean-up campaigns:
    • Hire of grab tongs, bin bags and gloves
    • Provision of containers and collection of waste
    • Waste advice and environmental education for more sustainability
    • Campaign advertising (participation buttons and press work)

Please contact us by phone: 0049 3641 4989-250 or by e-mail: vertrieb@jena.de

Children & Youth Environmental Award 2021

The motto of this year's Jena Children & Youth Environmental Award was "Less is more - how to avoid waste". In doing so, the city had brought the topic of waste prevention and resource conservation more into focus. Eleven great projects were submitted by kindergartens, schools and an association, showing that children and young people are working intensively on the topic. Press reports can be found under Links.