Thematic Networks® and the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) join forces to support waste advice
Two free platforms for waste consultants
You’re sorting through the trash and there’s this one piece of trash that you’re not quite sure which fraction it belongs to: should the jam lid come off or not? Does the coated paper belong with old plastic packaging or in the residual waste? Are receipts still a no-no for waste paper? And how do you dispose of a cracked drinking glass – via the glass container or the residual waste garbage can?
Many citizens are very committed when it comes to waste separation. But even among the most experienced, the question arises from time to time: Where to put it? Here, information materials such as illustrations or flyers are usually enough to solve the corresponding case. The Rhineland-Palatinate State Office for the Environment, for example, has developed free litter kits for creating multilingual litter-separation flyers or anti-litter leaflets for this purpose. Waste consultants can thus design multilingual information material with images in an uncomplicated and application-specific manner. (Optional QR codes provide further information in a total of 23 languages).
In addition to such technical issues, however, there is much more for the waste advisory service to do. In a recent survey conducted by Theme Networks®, nearly all respondents expressed that littering has increased significantly in recent years. This makes it clear: not everyone possesses such a high level of commitment with regard to proper waste disposal.
The waste consulting service still has more educational work to do
With the amendment of the Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act (KrWG) and the Packaging Act (according to § 46 KrWG), the scope of tasks of waste consultants has noticeably expanded. Starting with the little ones, who first have to learn the rules of waste separation, to the waste-separating adults who need a little help now and then, to the absolutely advice-resistant, who more and more often cross the line of the law – waste consultants have to teach, advise, explain and above all one thing: communicate. Themennetzwerke® and the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) would like to use their free platforms to support waste advisors in their daily educational work and the new challenges regarding the extended communication obligations.
A whole network as a working group and a platform filled with communication materials
The network group ‘Environmental Communication and Waste Consulting‘ of Themennetzwerke® is a meeting point for colleagues nationwide to discuss storytelling, the visualization of environmental education, waste consulting on social media, littering and other current topics around municipal waste consulting. Each new discussion becomes a kind of encyclopedia entry, so that a fund of knowledge for practice is created with the professional exchange. Sabine Grunewald from the Kassel District Waste Advisory Service, communications professional Andreas Schmid and Tatjana Bär from the VKU Platform for Waste Advisors supervise the network group as moderators and always have an answer ready!
The VKU platform for waste consultants provides waste consultants with free materials, ‘best practice’ examples and background knowledge for their daily work. For example, you will find illustrations and graphics from the VKU itself as well as the waste construction kits mentioned at the beginning and other freely accessible materials from municipal companies and organizations.
Why don’t you stop by and take a look? We are looking forward to meeting you!
