DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD WASTE

 As we are advancing towards the era where there are more facilities available at cheaper

price, our household usage is also increasing and with that we have increase of household

waste.

It was not an issue at the time when the quantity of waste was less as disposal was easy and

was not having toxic effects on our environment at a huge extent. But now as I stated before,

the has increased in a tremendous manner which is now adversely affecting our mother

nature. So, there should be optimal ways of disposal of household wastes. Now to do so first

of all let us know the types of the wastes that exists and needs to be disposed.

The necessary wastes are:

1. Residual waste

2. Organic waste

3. Waste paper and cartons

Residual waste

Residual waste includes any substances that cannot be recycled as well as materials that do

not qualify for recycling due to their level of pollution, such as:

 coated or contaminated paper

 light bulbs or halogen lamps

 broken dishes

 used cleaning rags and sponges

 cigarette butts

 sweepings

Residuals waste must not include any hazardous materials!

You must ensure that there is no risk of injury to the cleaning staff.

Pointed or sharp-edged waste such as needles, scalpels, broken china, broken light bulbs etc.

must be disposed of in solid and safely sealed plastic containers.

You can obtain a dustbin for residual waste from the “Büromaterialausgabe” (office supplies

stockroom). Dustbins in offices and laboratories are emptied by the cleaning staff. You may

also dispose of your residual waste by using the bins located in the corridors or by taking it to

the “Auspackraum” (central waste collection point).

Organic waste

Organic waste includes:

 leftover foods

 coffee filters and tea bags

 paper towels and napkins

 plants and potting soil

Soggy organic waste as well as meat and fish leftovers must be wrapped in newspaper.

Please dispose of your organic waste by using the green organic waste bins in the university

corridors.

Yellow bin (DSD material (Duales System Deutschland), Green Dot)

As per the Duales System Deutschland (DSD) , any packaging marked by the “Grüner Punkt”

(Green Dot) must be disposed of using the yellow bins.

Yellow bins (“Gelber Sack”) are located in the corridors and in the “Auspackraum” (central

waste collection point) in M 541. All packaging materials must be empty and not contain any

liquids. Please save water and only rinse particularly smelly containers.

The following should be disposed of in the yellow bin:

 milk and beverage cartons

 plastic bottles

 plastic cups

 shopping bags, bags, plastic foil

 coloured polystyrene

foamed plastic parts and whitepolystyrene should not be placed in the yellow bin but taken to

the “Auspackroom” (central waste collection point) in M 541 and disposed of in the

appropriately labelled bins.

Tin cans, drink cans, metal fasteners, aluminium containers, aluminium lids and aluminium

foil should be disposed of as scrap metal.

Waste paper and cartons

Waste paper includes:

 newspapers, magazines, brochures

 books (please remove bindings if these are not made from paper)

 writing, copying and printing paper

 cartons, cardboard, wrapping paper

 paper towels

The following items should be disposed of as residual waste and not as waste paper:

 coated and glossy paper (e.g. wax or oil paper, self-adhesive labels, fax paper, photo

paper, picture postcards)

 dirty paper (e.g. papers contaminated with food)

As per the University of Konstanz’s Fire safety regulations for university employees, you

should dispose of waste paper by putting it in the bins with the self-closing lids placed at

regular intervals along the corridors or take it to the “Auspackraum” (central waste collection

point).