On April 22, Earth Day was recognized by more than a billion people in 192 countries. First celebrated in 1970, it is designed as a day to honor the Earth and bring attention to environmental issues.
With Earth Day fresh in everyone’s minds, I would like to take the opportunity to talk about a very important subject directly related to maintaining a clean and sustainable environment: recycling and waste segregation.
Keeping our environment clean and safe is a responsibility we all share. Additionally, good health, safety, environmental protection and environmental stewardship are all integral parts of our mission and are necessary for the protection of the Earth’s air, land and water resources.
Your efforts are essential to our success in protecting this area — protection not only for us, but also for our children. Recycling is one of the many ways to preserve our scarce resources for the future. You may think recycling and waste segregation is complicated, but if you have the right information, it becomes simple. Our environmental office has created a comprehensive recycling brochure detailing recycling procedures in Germany and providing instructions on which items go where. My team is more than happy to provide this brochure to you and answer all your questions. Give them a call at 480-5086 or email 86cea.cea@us.af.mil.
Now, I would like to take a minute to mention a recurring issue we have had here on Ramstein: improper sorting and inappropriate placement of waste. Bottom line is you must sort — it is a German law. Ensure waste is placed in the bins and not outside the bins. Not sorting your trash costs the Air Force $2.5 million every year and makes up 20 percent of our annual trash bill. Moreover, 1.6 million man-hours are wasted every year picking up waste not placed in the bins or bulk items placed on top of the underground bins.
German law requires recycling of paper products, cardboard, plastics, metals, used petroleum products, lead acid batteries, tires, aluminum and steel cans, magazines and newspapers, waste mail, packing papers, crushed oil filters, wood pallets, empty toner cartridges, used clothing, shoes and rags.
The KMC has recycling centers on Ramstein and Vogelweh that accept all types of recyclables generated on-base. Off-base personnel may utilize the base’s recycling centers for disposal of household hazardous waste. In addition, if you are PCSing (with PCS orders) and live off base, recycling centers on Ramstein and Vogelweh can also take your unwanted electronic items. However, any other waste generated at your home off the installation must be disposed of at your home.
The recycling centers are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and are located on both Ramstein (Bldg. 5146 across the street from Burger King) and on Vogelweh (Bldg. 2820 across the street from Vehicle Processing Center at Kapaun Air Station).
Thank you for your continued support of our installation and the environment. This is a team effort. We cannot succeed without the help of each and every member of the KMC.
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News for the Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl & Baumholder military communities in Germany 
On April 22, Earth Day was recognized by more than a billion people in 192 countries. First celebrated in 1970, it is designed as a day to honor the Earth and bring attention to environmental issues.
With Earth Day fresh in everyone’s minds, I would like to take the opportunity to talk about a very important subject directly related to maintaining a clean and sustainable environment: recycling and waste segregation.
Keeping our environment clean and safe is a responsibility we all share. Additionally, good health, safety, environmental protection and environmental stewardship are all integral parts of our mission and are necessary for the protection of the Earth’s air, land and water resources.
Your efforts are essential to our success in protecting this area — protection not only for us, but also for our children. Recycling is one of the many ways to preserve our scarce resources for the future. You may think recycling and waste segregation is complicated, but if you have the right information, it becomes simple. Our environmental office has created a comprehensive recycling brochure detailing recycling procedures in Germany and providing instructions on which items go where. My team is more than happy to provide this brochure to you and answer all your questions. Give them a call at 480-5086 or email 86cea.cea@us.af.mil.
Now, I would like to take a minute to mention a recurring issue we have had here on Ramstein: improper sorting and inappropriate placement of waste. Bottom line is you must sort — it is a German law. Ensure waste is placed in the bins and not outside the bins. Not sorting your trash costs the Air Force $2.5 million every year and makes up 20 percent of our annual trash bill. Moreover, 1.6 million man-hours are wasted every year picking up waste not placed in the bins or bulk items placed on top of the underground bins.
German law requires recycling of paper products, cardboard, plastics, metals, used petroleum products, lead acid batteries, tires, aluminum and steel cans, magazines and newspapers, waste mail, packing papers, crushed oil filters, wood pallets, empty toner cartridges, used clothing, shoes and rags.
The KMC has recycling centers on Ramstein and Vogelweh that accept all types of recyclables generated on-base. Off-base personnel may utilize the base’s recycling centers for disposal of household hazardous waste. In addition, if you are PCSing (with PCS orders) and live off base, recycling centers on Ramstein and Vogelweh can also take your unwanted electronic items. However, any other waste generated at your home off the installation must be disposed of at your home.
The recycling centers are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and are located on both Ramstein (Bldg. 5146 across the street from Burger King) and on Vogelweh (Bldg. 2820 across the street from Vehicle Processing Center at Kapaun Air Station).
Thank you for your continued support of our installation and the environment. This is a team effort. We cannot succeed without the help of each and every member of the KMC.