Cycle excursion to waste disposal sites

Exploring novel ways of interacting around infrastructure, the Infrastructure Group at IRI THESys initiated and co-funded a bike tour to landfill sites in Brandenburg that were used to dispose of solid waste from West Berlin since the 1970s. Held on 22 September 2024 and organized by Pauline Münch, Tim Moss and Heike Weber, the tour was designed and presented by Jonas Stuck, an environmental historian who recently completed his PhD on East-West trade in waste during the Cold War.

The fascinating tour, enriched with historical images from archival sources (including Stasi files), took us to the building waste landfill at Deetz and the hazardous waste site at Vorketzin. Key insights emerged from our exchanges with Jonas. West Berlin’s waste was hidden from view in many ways: protected from intruders with security fences, covered with soil to minimise pollution and concealed from scrutiny in the absence of environmental data. Waste trade…