European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 22, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 9over her trash a test coming to bad Kreuz Nach by Chuck Roberts staff writer bad Kreuz Nach West Germany a taking out the trash wont be a mindless chore much longer for Carrie Jones and others in the bad Kreuz Nach military Community. Soon Jones will be faced with a multiple Choice a a test before she pitches her household garbage into the trash can. Does that refuse belong in a bin a for Glass a bin b for Metal a bin c for wastepaper a bin d for biodegradable materials a or bin e for non biodegradable materials the answers can be Tricky. A Dixie cup for instance is made of non biodegradable Wax and biodegradable paper. But that non biodegradable Wax Means the cup belongs in bin e. Plant soil Cut Flowers and Small pieces of Wood clearly belong in bin d for biodegradable things. But if these same items were included with Street sweepings they would be non biodegradable because of the motor Oil that could be mixed with them. Americans and West germans alike Are being put to the test by a county Hangen Law that takes effect june 30, said fran Ridenour customer relations officer with the directorate of engineering and housing at bad Kreuz Nach. The multiple Choice test Isnit especially popular with americans Many of whom always throw the whole Load into one can. A a we re experiencing an apathetic attitude from the Community a Ridenour said. A but we done to have any Choice because the county will either heavily Fine us or refuse to take our trash if we done to comply. We re totally reliant on the Host  Laura Gillespie one of the five appointed a a mayors in the military Community has observed the same attitude. A a they re not Happy about it a Gillespie said. A a it a going to be inconvenient. In a trying to get the Point across that its Good for the ecology and that its something we have to  Jones the bad Krenach Community resident also expects a weak response from the americans a i think its a Good idea but i done to think too Many people will take the time to do it. A i think the germans will do it More than the americans because where i come from we done to do anything like this so it makes a difference a said Jones wife of spec. Allen Jones. Moments later Petra Greenfield made her Way to at left workers at the county a compost Plant Check for non biodegradable materials with the help of a conveyor Belt. At right non biodegradable plastic bags line a Fence at the Langen Lonshein Landfill. The Only Community disposal site equipped with the five trash bins and began separating her trash the Way her Mother taught her As a child. A a in a trying to teach my husband to do it a said Greenfield a native of Germany. The Point of the sorting is to protect the environs amps photos by Ken George ment said . Hangen the environmental Protection Engineer for bad Kreuz Nach county. Biodegradable products which come from the Earth can be put Back into the Earth in the form of compost he said. Compost is made by mixing biodegradable materials in a Large drum and then letting it sit outside two to six months. The resulting chemical reaction helps kill weeds and produce a valuable Plant nutrient. This Type of compost is used by grape growers on their Fields. Compost used for gardening or farming takes six to eight months to make and is less potent. Compost helps reduce the need for chemical fertilizers that can be absorbed into ground water. Separating refuse also Means less trash for West Germany a packed landfills Hangen said. About 50 percent of waste that goes to the county Landfill can bad Kreuz Nach housing area resident Petra Greenfield separates garbage and places it in designated containers. Be converted into compost he said. The non biodegradable trash is hauled to the Landfill at nearby Langen Lonshein. Refuse from the Metal Glass and paper bins is taken to other Sites and recycled. Ridenour said the county does not make much Money from recycling. That is not the Point he said. The county is More concerned about protecting the environment. Bad Kreuz Nach is one of the first military communities required to implement such an extensive trash separation. Stan Childs environmental chief for the same directorate in Neu Ulm said a similar Law in bavarian a Neu Ulm county forced his Community to begin sorting trash april 15. A contractor has installed 13 five bin sets to collect recyclables from that Community a 7,500 residents. About 90 percent of West German cities have begun some form of trash separation said Berthold Goeke a press officer with the environmental nature Protection and nuclear safety office in Bonn. Minimum standards Call for the separation of Glass and paper. It is up to the county to decide if further separation is required he said. Ridenour has been spreading the word about the separation program for about two months at town Hall meetings and through building coordinators and the military command. She also targets schools because students usually Are the Lucky ones who lug out the family trash. The military will distribute 600 plastic garbage containers to Homes administrative buildings and schools to help people separate the biodegradable and non biodegradable trash. Ridenour said students plan to Spray paint the cans with the words a a biodegradable or  also a pamphlet will be mailed explaining in detail what constitutes biodegradable and non biodegradable refuse. Although there is no formal penalty for failing to participate Ridenour warns that the names of those who refuse to cooperate could be turned Over to their units. This recycling Effort will not be cheap. The military Community will spend $75,000 a year to rent 200 trash receptacles and have them emptied twice a week. Bins for the county and the military Community Are being built by a German manufacturer but Are not expected to be available until july. Bins for Glass and paper have been available in the military Community for some time but Only at commercial areas. Ridenour said she intends to have one of the new trash Sites available for every two housing units. As an Experiment Ralf Linden the Community chief of sanitation and seven other employees gathered about 1,980 pounds of trash to see How Long it takes to separate and to evaluate the contents. They found that 56.2 percent of the trash could be separated for recycling. Paper and cardboard accounted for 25.2 percent Glass for 22 percent and cans or Metal 9 percent. This breakdown was contrary to what the germans predicted Ridenour said. They assumed american trash contained greater amounts of plastics and hazardous waste than German trash