From January 1, 2025, new guidelines for the disposal of residual waste bins and organic waste bins will come into force. This affects all federal citizens and all tenants. From next year, there will be a residual waste ban for some materials. What consumers/tenants should note: A new law ensures that from 2025, old clothes can no longer be disposed of in residual waste - even if they are damaged - but must be disposed of in used clothing containers. The change is intended to help enable more recycling and thus focus on sustainability here too. The textiles affected are not just clothing; in addition to old T-shirts, jeans or jackets, bed linen, towels or curtains should now also be thrown into the used clothing container. The in-house residual waste is therefore prohibited for all textiles. The reason for this is that these goods should no longer be burned or dumped, but can be reused or recycled. As the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center explains, the clothing industry produces more greenhouse gases than all international flights and ships combined. For this reason, in the future all textiles should only be disposed of in used clothing containers to ensure better recycling of textile materials. Another change from January 1, 2025 concerns the stricter separation of organic waste. In particular, this involves a limit for "contaminants" that make the production of high-quality compost from organic waste increasingly complicated and expensive for waste management companies. Although there is a waste separation requirement in Germany, unfortunately too much of the wrong waste - so-called contaminants - ends up in the organic waste bin, which is why a new law will soon come into force. Every consumer should actually know which substances can be put in organic waste. Nevertheless, permitted substances are listed here again: Compostable waste such as unpackaged food, solid food scraps, cheese and bread scraps, pasta, salad, fruit and vegetable waste, eggshells, coffee and tea grounds, but also leftovers from gardening such as flowers, leaves, grass clippings and weeds, hay, straw and wood chips (but not materials contaminated with feces or urine such as animal litter), potted plants without plant pots, egg cartons, napkins and kitchen paper. Unfortunately, the organic waste bins are often filled with the wrong waste. It is not permitted to dispose of glass, plastic, plastic bags, cans, aluminum foil, beverage cartons, diapers and other hygiene products, liquid food scraps, ash, cigarette butts, vacuum cleaner bags, garbage, leather, wool and textiles, cat litter and other animal excrement, wood and coated paper (including baking paper), large-volume green waste such as tree or shrub cuttings in the organic waste. It is also forbidden to throw oils, fats and thick pieces of wood into the organic waste bin. Paper should be disposed of via the paper collection. However, small amounts of newspaper are also permitted in organic waste, for example to absorb moisture in the bin. Egg cartons can also be disposed of with the waste paper, provided they are free of contamination such as egg residue or chicken droppings. In order to prevent the incorrect filling of the residual waste and organic waste bins in the future, high fines will soon be threatened for incorrect waste separation. Each municipality sets the level of the fines with which these administrative offences are punished within the framework of a catalogue of fines. Fines of up to 2,500 euros can be imposed for serious violations. From May 1, 2025, an extension of the 2022 Organic Waste Ordinance will also come into force. If checks reveal more than three percent of foreign substances in an organic waste bin, emptying can be refused. As a result, full organic waste bins are left standing and waste offenders have to take care of the disposal themselves. This means that the tenants themselves are responsible! For this reason, in your own interest, we ask you to follow the new guidelines for waste disposal in residual waste bins and organic waste bins. Information on this topic can also be found on the website of the city of Bonn at www.Bonn.de / www.bonnorange.de Your MIWO team