City of Salzburg – Municipal companies and waste service: Successful balance sheet 2021 and future perspective
The second year of the corona pandemic was also demanding for municipal services and the waste service. Lockdowns, changing federal requirements and adapted work processes – for example team splitting – had to be mastered.
“The employees of the municipal operations and the waste service approach the tasks with enormous speed and commitment. Flexibility, creativity and a drive towards the goal are excellent qualities,” said deputy mayor Bernhard Auinger at the beginning with a lot of praise.
132,153 visitors in the outdoor pools
The traditional open-air pool season in the city of Salzburg around May 1 did not start last year. On May 19th, the time had come: The Leopoldskroner Bad, the Volksgartenbad and the AYA outdoor pool opened their doors with the Corona requirements: upper limit for visitors, distance rules and mask requirement indoors. In the new web shop, swimming fans were able to buy their tickets for the “Lepi”, “Volksi” and AYA-Bad easily and conveniently at home for the first time and thus enjoy the bathing day without waiting at the entrance. Before setting off, visitors could use an online tool to query the occupancy rate in the three swimming pools in real time. The late start of the season, Corona requirements and a rainy August also had an impact on the number of visitors: 132,153 bathers recorded the three outdoor pools in the 2021 season. In 2020 there were 148,377 and in 2019 there were 213,419 visitors.
The upper limit for visitors, strict rules for clubs and schools – external swimming projects were particularly affected – had a strong impact on the number of visitors in the AYA indoor pool: in 2021 there were 24,719 visitors, the year before 42,038 entries and in the corona-free year 2019, 98,638 bathers swam in the pool on the Alpenstrasse.
Success story ice magic in the “Volksi”
Since the “ice season” 2019/2020, hobby ice skaters have been able to whiz through the ice magic on the grounds of the Volksgarten in addition to the ice arena. Already in the second season, the ice magic was expanded by 90 meters of running paths – that’s a total of 270 m² more ice surface. And the new attraction is very well received: As one of the very few exercise offers, 59,936 hobby ice athletes took advantage of the new offer in the ice magic opening year 2020. In 2021, the result from the previous year was exceeded with 60,624 hobby ice athletes, although almost all exercise offers were available to people.
The Ice Magic ended on Sunday, February 27th with a premiere of its 2nd season. At the 1st ice action day in the Volksgarten there are lots of ice sports to try out and participate in.
No tournaments in the sports halls
The number of visitors in the sports center north and in the sports hall Alpenstraße fell massively due to the strict corona rules for clubs and schools. also took place without tournaments. The Alpenstraße sports hall counted 16,285 athletes last year, 19,170 the year before and 53,490 athletes in 2019, the last “normal” year.
The Sportzentrum Nord has succeeded in constantly improving the range of services and thus also the use and profitability with new partners – such as SSM – Salzburg School Sport Model, HPB Goalkeeper Academy and Lieferinger SV. Nevertheless, the drop in visitors clearly shows the corona-related effects: in 2019 there were 46,177 visitors, in 2020 there were 8,410 athletes. In 2021, 17,503 people played sports.
“Building on the experiences of 2020, our employees also mastered 2021 excellently. That’s why our bathers, athletes and ice skating fans were able to use our facilities in the usual way. Only the control of the 2G proof presented our employees with major challenges. As far as that is concerned, they unfortunately had to and still have to discuss this with some guests,” informs Roland Oberhauser, head of municipal operations.
Renovation of the small hydroelectric power station in Münzgasse
In 2020, the renewal of the small hydroelectric power station in the Münzgasse was tackled. The system is operated via a run-of-river power station in the Alm Canal. In the course of the first renovation stage, an increase in output of around 20 percent was already achieved. As part of the second construction phase – during the Almabkehr today in September – the automation of the water level regulation, the conversion of the belt drive and the general overhaul of the Francis turbine from 1904 are planned. Due to the significant increase in performance, this measure will also enable blackout precautions for the municipal data center and part of Mirabell Palace in the future. In addition, it WILL be able to supply green electricity to various users in the city center.
“The Salzburg funeral” with a new look
The culture of burial is constantly changing. Since 2019, the municipal funeral home has given its appearance a sharper outline. The municipal burial became “Die Bestattung Salzburg” with a new logo, clearly visible signage – four pillars in the cemetery area, light box, etc. – and its own website www.abschied-machen.info. The range of services has also been expanded. Employees take on various administrative procedures, individual appointment requests from the bereaved families are increasingly taken into account. The newly designed options now offer enough in a contemporary and friendly atmosphere. Since summer 2020, relatives, friends or neighbors who cannot be there can follow the funeral service via live stream.
The completely barrier-free redesign of the customer area (wheelchair-accessible toilet and coffin exhibition) is planned for 2022 – as well as the redesign of the forecourt and the expansion of the vehicle fleet.
“In the funeral, the employees were particularly challenged in dealing with the bereaved families and the farewells. Since laws and regulations have constantly changed during the course of the pandemic, we were not able to plan farewells and funerals exactly. Although it was a very difficult and sometimes stressful situation for the relatives and also for the employees, everything was done to be able to carry out the funerals to the satisfaction of the relatives. This is clearly reflected in the business figures. The investments in ‘Die Bestattung Salzburg’ strengthen the company and contribute to the fact that the company is a reliable partner in difficult times,” says Verena Wengler, Managing Director of “Die Bestattung Salzburg”.
Waste balance 2021 – collection volume increased slightly – 509 kilos of waste per capita
Corona is also noticeable in the waste balance of the city of Salzburg in the second year of the pandemic. The garbage mountain in the city of Salzburg has increased slightly compared to the previous year. In 2020 it shrank by 3.9 percent to 78,476 tons compared to 2019 and grew again slightly in 2021 to 79,184 tons by 0.7 percent. This means that every Salzburger:in produced 509 kilograms of waste last year. Around 50 percent of this was collected separately and thus recycled.
The amount of residual waste rose to 33,264 tons in 2021 (2020: 33,210 tons). The amounts of plastic collection have also increased: in 2021 it was 846 tons (2020: 844 tons) and for paper/cardboard house collection 10,205 tons in 2021 (2020: 11,467 tons). There were lower collection volumes for organic waste at 13,044 tons in the previous year (2020: 13,135 tons), for used textiles at 859 tons (2020: 862 tons) and bulky waste (wood and metal) at 946.20 tons (2020: 867 tons).
The people of Salzburg used the Maxglan recycling center again in 2021. There alone, they handed over 12,058 tons of waste last year, which is 591 tons more than in 2020.
“The second pandemic year in a row is also noticeable in the waste balance of the city of Salzburg. The amount of waste has increased slightly by 0.7 percent compared to the previous year. In 2019, however, the city still recorded a 2.3 percent decrease in the total amount of waste. The reason for this is the temporary closure of the catering and hotel industry,” says the head of the waste service, Jürgen Wulff-Gegenbaur.
Expansion of the recycling center – conversion of plastic collection
More and more customers – there are approx. 130,000 customer contacts per year – changed legal requirements and framework conditions make it necessary to expand and convert the recycling center. The expansion allows for future optimization of capacity and die operations. The planning for the conversion, which is scheduled to start in the first half of 2022, is currently in full swing.
Another major consideration of the municipal waste service is the replanning of the plastic collection in the city of Salzburg. Due to legal and EU requirements, the recycling rate must be increased from 2023.
Auinger will continue to drive modernization forward
“The modernization of municipal operations and the Salzburg funeral home is an investment for the people. That is why it is particularly important to me to push this further. With the conversion of the recycling center, the renovation of the municipal outdoor pools and sports halls and the expansion of the ice magic in the Volksgarten, the offer for the people of Salzburg will be even more varied,” says Bernhard Auinger, who is more than satisfied with the latest development.
“With the investments in the municipal companies, we want to make the offer for the people of Salzburg even more attractive. We want to use this to attract more visitors and customers and increase our income,” adds Auinger.