Getting right away from the world of politics
“Don’t just talk, act!” – this is what Rainer Genilke, a member of the state parliament in Brandenburg, often says to himself. He regularly spends time working at businesses that have nothing to do with his own job so that he has the facts at his fingertips when he takes part in political debates. And this is the reason why he recently rolled up his sleeves and joined REMONDIS’ team in Brandenburg.
Rainer Genilke, Member of the State Parliament in Brandenburg
A day in the life of a dustbin man
Work begins at 6am at REMONDIS’ branch in Herzberg in the German state of Brandenburg. This July, Rainer Genilke travelled to the company to spend a day with one of the teams responsible for emptying the bins around the city. His goal here was not to just talk to the employees but to buckle down and do the work himself – to get an insight into just what a back-breaking job the dustbin men carry out around the district of Elbe-Elster every single day. Throughout the day, Rainer Genilke was able to experience first-hand how the dustbin men had to remain focused at all times to cope with the difficult traffic conditions. Besides these sometimes chaotic driving conditions, he soon realised that emptying bins not only requires physical strength but also high levels of skill and coordination to manoeuvre the special collection vehicles. He also saw what steps he needed to take as a politician having seen for himself the impact of not being allowed to reverse down cul-de-sacs. “We need to think about creating turning areas when making infrastructure decisions,” he pointed out. “The lads have a really hard job. Both in summer and in winter,” he continued, paying tribute to the team of workers. “And they’ll have the organic waste bin to deal with from January onwards, as well.”
“I can only pay tribute to the work that REMONDIS carries out on behalf of our waste association – to the way it helps protect our environment and, consequently, our health.”
Rainer Genilke, Member of the State Parliament in Brandenburg
Good eye-hand coordination a must
The following day, he then travelled to the wood and plastics sorting facility at REMONDIS’ branch in Großräschen – difficult work for an intern with absolutely no experience of the job. With the items rushing past him on the conveyor belt, he had only seconds to remove the unwanted materials. Good eye-hand coordination is a must here. On top of this, he had to cope with the high temperatures which also made it difficult to keep a cool head. Having experienced this work up close, he was highly impressed by the volumes managed by the company: 30,000 tonnes of household waste, 8,000 tonnes of bulky waste and 10,000 tonnes of paper are handled by the 30 members of staff in Herberg and the 150 employees in Großräschen every year. 20 of them are currently doing an apprenticeship and are hoping to be taken on by the firm once they have successfully completed their course. “I can only pay tribute to the work that REMONDIS carries out on behalf of our waste association – to the way it helps protect our environment and, consequently, our health. And all that for a basic charge of less than 30 euros per person per year,” the MP and councillor commented after completing his two-day work experience.
What’s separated remains separated
There is one myth that Rainer Genilke would like to clear up. It really does help if people separate their old bottles according to clear, green and brown glass. It is not true that the old bottles are mixed together when the bottle banks are emptied. On the contrary, the contents of each bottle bank are emptied and transported separately. “The vehicles have three different compartments,” he explained.
Image credits: © REMONDIS
