Alt dress puzzle: Where do our clothes in Sternberg disappear?

Alt dress puzzle: Where do our clothes in Sternberg disappear?

Sternberg, Deutschland - Times change and you can see that in the wardrobes of many people. Old clothes urgently need to be looked through, but where to go with the unused? The question flashes more and more: throw away or pass on? In many cities, including in the Sternberg area, the disposal of old clothes becomes a challenge. According to Nordkurier are increasingly rare. The last copy in Sternberg stands behind the main building of the local housing association and belongs to the company Humana, which prepares and sells the collected textiles in a sorting company near Berlin.

The location is more tense than ever. In many regions, such as in the Ludwigslust-Parchim area, citizens adhere to the recycling requirements, but the trend shows that many old clothing containers have been broken down. The reasons for this decline are diverse. The German Red Cross (DRK), which has set up containers in the past, withdraws due to littering and the associated costs. Again and again well -preserved clothing is contaminated by garbage, which makes it unusable.

new EU requirements on the door

Another aspect that this time causes excitement are the new EU requirements that come into force from January 1, 2025. These write a separate collection for old states and demand that textiles no longer simply belong to residual waste. As the ZDF , over one million tons of old textiles end up in German containers every year, but only about 50% are actually still usable. The rest often migrates abroad or is not used sustainably. In order to increase the recycling quota, EU politicians think about an "extended responsibility of the manufacturer", which should take on manufacturers to ensure the collection and recycling of their products.

So where to go with the old clothes if there are no more containers available? There is a solution in many communities that offer the opportunity to donate usable clothing in charity shops. The DRK Parchim, for example, accepts portable parts and uses the proceeds for important social projects such as the support of youth work or disaster protection. There is also a solution for damaged textiles: they are handed over to a recycling company that prepares the raw materials for new products - from floor mats to cleaning flaps.

environmental awareness begins in the wardrobe

As the current developments show, the topic of old textiles is not just a question of cleaning the wardrobe. The EU requirements aim to reduce annually burned or deposited textiles and ultimately relieve the environment. In Germany, citizens are increasingly starting to get involved in sustainable disposal. In Ludwigslust-Parchim, for example, only 1.84 percent of the clothing textiles found their way into residual waste, which is a positive trend.

Recommendation is required. Consumers are called up to buy less, choose durable products and to strive for second-hand shopping and clothing exchange. In this way we help to protect the environment a bit and at the same time to refresh our own wardrobe.