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Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) - Because of the pandemic, this year's disposal of Christmas trees in many Hessian municipalities and cities is different than in previous years.

Actually, "very, very many youth fire brigades, almost traditionally" are responsible for this, said the rural youth fire brigade in Hesse, Markus Potthof.

This year, however, the majority of the fire brigades for young helpers canceled the collection campaigns in order to avoid contacts.

The problem is not so much collecting the firs as the accompanying events.

People “always come together somewhere,” said Potthof.

They often meet in large groups, and in the evenings the municipalities hold big fires.

When picking up you always earned a tip.

But it is primarily about helping as a community.

All of that will disappear this year due to the pandemic.

"We have a protective mandate against young people," said Potthof.

It is important to have enough strength ready.

In a message from the city of Bensheim (Bergstrasse district), for example, it says: "A possible quarantine for the many helpers in the collection campaign would endanger their operational capability."

Even if the decision was "very difficult", this year's campaign had to be canceled.

According to this, the people of Bensheim have to hand in their tree themselves at the recycling center or dispose of them broken up in the organic waste bin.

The association responsible for waste disposal cannot do this due to the "limited capacities".

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In Nidderau (Main-Kinzig-Kreis), for example, the private waste disposal company who has stepped in will not pick up the trees until January 20 because of the many new orders.

"Unfortunately, everything is a little different this year," said a city spokeswoman.

In Wächtersbach (Main-Kinzig-Kreis) the volunteer fire brigades are not collecting the disused fir trees this year either.

From January 9th, the city will set up containers in various quarters in which the citizens can dispose of the trees.

Larger Hessian cities don't have to rethink.

Regardless of the date, the trees can usually be disposed of via the recycling center.

In the state capital, the youth fire brigades were always given priority on the Saturday after January 6, according to a spokesman for the Wiesbaden waste disposal company.

In the following week, the city collection started.

This year the dates are between January 11th and 22nd.

Because the actions of the youth fire brigades on the previous Saturday are now canceled, more trees are expected in Wiesbaden this year.

Last year there were around 35,000.

According to the speaker, the collected fir trees are shredded and used as fertilizer or compost.

In Frankfurt, the city takes over a large part of the collection even without a pandemic.

"We are calculating with 80,000 trees," said a spokesman for Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH (FES).

The trees have been picked up district by district since January 7th.

Disposal in the residual waste or the organic waste bin is also possible.

In any case, the fir trees must be shortened to one meter and decorated.

“That is the alpha and omega,” said the FES spokesman.

Three quarters of Frankfurt trees are therefore composted.

FES website