Salzburg SPÖ demands review of deposit collection stations

The Social Democratic Party in Salzburg is calling for an evaluation of deposit collection rings and nets installed along the Salzach river, saying that their costs and benefits remain unclear after a year of testing, ORF reported.

The city has installed three types of collection units for deposit bottles and cans at ten locations along the busy Franz-Josef and Elisabeth quays. Municipal public works employees designed and built the metal covers, nets and cubes themselves.

The collection points are intended to improve cleanliness, raise recycling awareness and provide a socially responsible and practical way to handle deposit containers.

City councillor Sebastian Lankes of the SPÖ, who helped initiate the installation last year, has asked Deputy Mayor Kay-Michael Dankl of the KPÖ whether the project will be evaluated. He said public money was being used and that only a transparent evaluation could show whether the system was successful and whether it should be expanded to additional locations.

The collection stations currently exist only along the Salzach. Lankes also wants to know whether the city plans to extend the system to other districts, how much the project has cost so far and whether vandalism has occurred.