Shocking environmental consequences: road salt is criticized!

Shocking environmental consequences: road salt is criticized!

In the middle of mild winter, many cities in Austria and Germany continue to rely massively on road salt, despite the alarming indications of environmental protection organizations. Greenpeace criticizes this excessive use as dangerous for nature and infrastructure. "The massive use of road salt is not only superfluous, but also a danger to nature and infrastructure," explains Adam Pawloff, spokesman for Greenpeace. A current ranking shows that Innsbruck takes up the inglorious top position with 3,800 kilograms of salt per street kilometer. St. Pölten, Linz and Bregenz also follow with high consumption figures. In contrast, Klagenfurt and Eisenstadt are characterized by more environmentally friendly use of road salt, which she rewarded with the best evaluation ("green"). These cities show that more economical use is also possible in frosty conditions, such as "https://www.vienna.at/streusalz-flut-hauptte-uberhrt-beimwinterdienst/9244337"> vienna.at reports.

On the other hand, the city of Augsburg is well equipped for the winter season: With over 5,000 tons of road salt and another 1,000 tons of split, the municipal waste management and city cleaning company has built up supplies that are reminiscent of the knowledge collected from the 2010 road salt. At that time, winter service had to be severely restricted due to a bottleneck, which Georg Holder, the head of the city company, always has in mind. "We are well prepared for winter," emphasizes Holder. Thanks to the milder winter, a large part of the road salt from the previous year could be stored, which makes a critical repetition of the situation of four years ago, according to augsburger-allgemeine.de .

The still high use of road salt leads to serious environmental problems. Greenpeace reports that road salt is not only stressed by the streets, but also soils and water, which has serious consequences for biodiversity. Animals like dogs suffer from injured paws, while small birds are threatened by the salinity in their natural habitats. These alarming facts underline the urgency to reduce salt consumption and find environmentally friendly alternatives.