Straße salt balance: Greenpeace criticizes high quantities in Tyrol and Hesse!

Straße salt balance: Greenpeace criticizes high quantities in Tyrol and Hesse!

Innsbruck, Österreich - The street building authority of Hessen is preparing for the winter throughout Hesse by storing impressive 90,000 tons of road salt. These huge quantities are distributed over 46 street masters to ensure security on the approximately 15,200 street kilometers of the federal state. The winter service, which mobilizes around 1000 employees and 390 vehicles for this, ensures that the streets remain safe for road users around the clock. According to a spokesman for the authority in 2022, around 62,500 tons of a thousand, with an average of 81,000 tons in the past 20 years, such as the Welt reported.

in parallel to the winter preparations in Hesse, Greenpeace has published alarming data on the road salary in Austria. The organization examined the amounts of road salt to the cities from 2019 to 2024 and found that Innsbruck uses the highest amount at 3.8 tons per street kilometer. St. Pölten follows with 3 tons, while Linz and Bregenz are also classified in the "red" category with 2.8 and 2.5 tons. This classification leaves worrying traces: A quarter of the scattered salt should seep into the groundwater and can have serious effects on biodiversity. There are also health risks for pets and potential damage to infrastructure, as reported.

Greenpeace appeals to the cities to drastically reduce the use of road salt and prefer the space of the lanes. This could be sufficient, especially in speed -reduced zones. In Innsbruck, the city administration refers to increased care in higher parts of the city and plans to modernize the brine system in order to reduce the need for stray. This makes great potential to save resources, while environmental protection can be promoted at the same time.