sorting of household waste would work in this district”, says Niels Erik Pedersen, MD at Envac Danmark. ”But the results have far exceeded all our expectations.” ”Immedia tely after the vacuum waste collection system was taken into use in August 2005 we had a spot of trouble with dis cipline”, remembers Allan Jensen. ”But since the Envi ronment Ambassadors got started and the children here have gone through training as Environment Detectives there have been very few problems.” ”The quality is so high that we have no problem in getting the papermill to accept the collec ted paper”, affirms Jensen. Odense Renovation who are responsible for refuse collec tion in Vollsmose are very sa tisfied, and not only because costs of refuse collection have been reduced. The collection of skips from the Envac termi
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nal takes very little time and only occurs twice a week, which means saving costs for staff and time. All the safety risks that staff were previously exposed to have been elimina ted. The difference between the past and the present when it comes to the handling of refu se is like night and day. ”Refu se is no longer unhygienic, and nobody needs to touch it.” ”We used to be 6 people working for 7 hours on Mondays, 6 hours on Thursdays and 3 hours on Fridays, just with cleaning and dealing with the rubbish bins”, Allan Jensen tells us. Nowadays the respon sibility is mine alone when it comes to the handling of refu se in this district, and I only need to spend about one hour a day on it to see that everyth ing is in working order.” And that it certainly is. The district is very clean and well
cared for. No litter or rubbish, no discarded furni- ture, va cuum cleaners or mattresses etcetera dumped anywhere. Bulky refuse, glass, metal and electronic apparatus are dispo sed of at a recy- cling station in the area which is open daily. ”We’ve had a fantastic amount of help from women from the Environ- ment Am bassadors”, Jensen points out. ”Without their contribution we would never have suc ceeded in achieving all this.” Vollsmose has become a model and an inspiration to many. Vi sits by other municipal di stricts from Denmark and ab road have been frequent. ”Amongst other things study visits here are part of the training course for careta kers”, Allan Jensen tells us, and he can proudly testify to the fact that this type of hou sing district really can be changed for the better.
Sustainable Solutions