For those who don't have enough to warrant bulky waste collection or who want to drop something off sooner than the 14-day time slot, they can simply drive to the recycling center on Ludwigsluster Chaussee. During the respective opening hours, almost anything can be dropped off here.

Batteries, cardboard, electronic waste, or Styrofoam packaging can be disposed of free of charge. A fee is charged for construction debris, laminate, concrete, insulation materials, or wallpaper scraps. The amount is calculated by the staff on site after a visual inspection of the car trunk or trailer. The SAS staff appreciates when everything is compactly packed but not nested inside each other. This makes it easier to see what is being disposed of and check if materials need to be separated.

To skeptics who may think that waste separation is pointless because everything is mixed together and burned later anyway, the SAS Managing Director counters: "I can assure you 100 percent that this does not happen in Germany. Germany has a highly developed waste management and recycling industry. The highest priority is the reuse of materials. If that doesn't succeed, then material recycling is intended. This means that glass can be made into new glass endlessly, paper can be made into new paper several times, and you can easily imagine melting scrap metal to make something new. The same applies to plastics and old clothes. So, the days when things were simply mixed together and ended up in the incinerator are long gone. And incinerators shouldn't be demonized either. Today, they are all combined heat and power plants from which electricity and heat are extracted. So ultimately, they also contribute to the energy transition in Germany by handling waste that cannot be recycled."

The recycling center on Ludwigsluster Chaussee is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Many residents of Schwerin use the on-site service not only to drop things off but also to take things with them. "The idea behind it is that people have an empty trunk or trailer after dropping off their waste and can immediately refill it," says SAS Managing Director Andreas Lange. "We offer a whole range of garden products in bulk: compost, gravel, wood chips, bark mulch. These are the classics that people like to use, especially in the spring, and they are available in large quantities from us."

Anyone needing advice can, of course, get it – either on-site, by phone, or after an email inquiry.