Commitment

KSJ is committed

Through its offers and support services, Kommunalservice Jena provides children and adults with responsible content for the sustainable and resource-conserving development of our environment.

We stand for an attractive city and forest image and a Jena worth living in - today and a little better every day. That is why we call on people to get actively involved with us and turn ideas into reality.

We support daycare centers, schools, clubs and volunteers with forest and waste education programs and/or cleaning campaigns.

Creative ideas for staff recruitment

The KSJ has also launched another recruitment pilot project with the extended offer to exchange reusable items (Tauschhaus). People with disabilities are not only part of the workforce, but are also responsible for a range of services in the form of so-called company-integrated jobs (external jobs), which are difficult to fill through conventional recruitment, e.g. in the areas of service, gardening or electronic waste.

Twelve colleagues with disabilities are now working there independently within the workforce.

Swapping instead of disposing

Kommunalservice Jena (KSJ) wants to help avoid waste and enable reuse. Old things find new owners at the KSJ's swap house. Mascot Freddy from Science City Jena Basketball dug deep into his moth box during the vacation season and brought all kinds of useful items. There were some real gems to be found on site, which you can take away for free. Take a look for yourself - the staff at Saale Betreuungswerk look forward to your visit! - Watch the video

Exchange house at Löbstedter Straße 68

The Tauschhaus is located on the grounds of the KSJ. Two house containers with visitor parking spaces offer a free platform for exchanging used media.

Opening hours

Monday - Friday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m

Hand in items:

Items that are no longer needed but in good condition can be handed in free of charge. These are for example

  • Books, magazines,
  • CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, records,
  • PC and console games,
  • Board and game collections and/or puzzles,
  • Children's toys and/or articles (baby carriages, bicycles, chairs, etc.),
  • Household goods (cutlery, crockery, glasses, cups, pans etc.) and/or
  • Flower pots and vases

Items:

Items for private use can be taken from the swap house free of charge. The swap house gives citizens the opportunity to bring items they no longer need for exchange. Every day, we notice that particularly sought-after items such as children's books and toys, historical editions such as old encyclopaedias or cookery books and even specialist books quickly find new owners. Interested parties will find a very varied and constantly changing selection here.

Three final requests:

  1. Please do not hand in any (video) and/or cassette tapes, as these are hardly ever used and may have to be disposed of for a fee(see waste ABC).
  2. Clothing, furniture and electronic items are also excluded from acceptance. Please use the various initiatives in Jena.
  3. In addition, no home-burned storage media and/or "index" material from the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Young Persons will be accepted. However, CDs and DVDs do not necessarily have to be disposed of with Residual waste. There is an extra container for free recycling at the recycling center at Löbstedter Straße 56.

Do you have any questions? This is how you can reach us: Tel. (03641) 4989-500 | e-mail: vertrieb-ksj@jena.de

Exchange house - exterior view
Exchange house - exterior view
©KSJ

Swap house 2.0 in Jena

Sustainability in action: 82% reuse!
In 2024, around 57 tons of goods were passed on - this not only saves resources, but also €6,000 in disposal costs!
Particularly impressive: 41% of the items handed in were books.
A real contribution to the circular economy!

23.000 visitors in 2024
Our swap shop is a complete success - around 23,000 people visited it in 2024!
Together, we are creating a sustainable alternative to throwing things away.

Sustainability that works: 161 tons of CO₂ saved
By reusing 57 tons of household items, including around 28 tons of books, we were able to save around 120 tons of CO₂.
This corresponds to the annual emissions of 60 average cars (13,000km; 6l consumption, gasoline)!
Where does this figure come from?
The production of a book (300 pages) causes approx. 1.2 kg of CO₂ per kg.
Household items (e.g. vases, cutlery, glasses) save a total of approx. 3 kg CO₂ per kg when reused.
(Sources: co2online, Öko-Institut e.V., European Environment Agency, Federal Environment Agency)

Conclusion: Every reuse counts! Thanks to everyone who takes part.

Trees in the city

Would you like to be able to do something concrete in your everyday life to make life easier for urban trees in your area? We, the Kommunalservice Jena tree care department, would like to give you a few suggestions and introduce you to the concept of tree sponsorship.

Tree sponsorship - how does it work?

Nobody needs to worry about being overburdened by taking on a tree sponsorship! This is because the duty of care for the sponsored tree remains with the city even if a sponsorship exists, so that the sponsor does not have to worry about the stability of their tree or carry out extensive maintenance work, pruning or similar on the tree themselves.

Even with relatively small maintenance measures, tree sponsors can make it noticeably easier for "their" tree to survive in the city:

  • clearing the tree disc of garbage (especially cigarette butts!)
  • provide the tree with a few buckets of water in dry weather. Especially when it's very hot: it's better to have one more jug
  • carefully loosen the soil around the tree from time to time - this will significantly improve the water and nutrient supply
  • prevent the tree from being permanently damaged by dog excrement and urine by planting, for example, barberries or the so-called "piss off plant coleus canina"
  • protect the tree disc from soil compaction, pollutants and dog urine by creating a boundary (max. 50 cm high and at least 50 cm away from parking bays & roadways and at least 25 cm from cycle paths or sidewalks)
  • if necessary, remove overgrown "weeds" if required or when planting horticultural plants
  • protect the area under the tree canopy from debris and parked cars - possibly even with a knee-high barrier (only after consultation with the city!)
  • get involved in public relations work about the positive effects of urban trees.

What are the benefits of being a tree sponsor?

  • You can design the tree slice of "your" tree largely according to your own ideas and can thus create a small natural oasis virtually on your doorstep, from which passers-by, butterflies etc. also benefit. As a rule, it is up to you to decide whether you want to give self-settling plants free space or plant the tree slice according to your own ideas.
  • You will receive care tips and advisory support from the KSJ tree care department.
  • You will receive a small "starter pack" with seeds for a colorful flower meadow.
  • You make an active contribution to climate protection, to the beautification of your neighborhood and to increasing the quality of life in Jena.
  • You will receive a sign that you can place under the tree to make your commitment visible to the general public.

Becoming a tree sponsor - is it difficult?

Becoming a sponsor is "child's play":

Not only individuals can sponsor a tree, but also families, schools, clubs, kindergartens, etc.

What a tree sponsor can do for "their" tree is agreed in the sponsorship contract and depends on the personal possibilities and interests of the individual person(s).

Litter collection campaign - supported by KSJ

If you would like to add a litter collection campaign to the environmental education topics covered in your educational institution, or if you simply want to keep our city clean, we will be happy to support you.


With grabbing tongs and special bin liners


The KSJ provides you with gripping tongs as a "helping hand" and garbage bags specially marked for this campaign (ant stickers). The rental is always on a weekly basis.

Please place the full bin liners in public litter bins or at glass container locations so that the 'ant sticker' is clearly visible. Then inform us of the locations by e-mail umweltbildung-ksj@jena.de so that our employees can collect the bags quickly.

Please return the grab bags to the KSJ Service Center at Löbstedter Straße 56.

Registration
Please register your campaign with us at least five working days in advance by emailing umweltbildung-ksj@jena.de. The following information is required:

  • Location/address of the area
  • desired date of the waste collection campaign
  • expected number of participants
  • Contact details of the organizer

We will then get in touch with you.

Collecting corks for crane conservation
Since July 2022, corks from wine bottles can be handed in at the Recycling Center North to support the protection of cranes. Kommunalservice Jena (KSJ) is registered as a secondary collection point for corks with NABU-Hamburg. By recycling valuable cork material, you help to preserve cork oak forests in the wintering areas of the cranes and obtain ecological insulation material - a benefit for nature, the environment and the climate.

Successful collection record: 500 kilograms of cork collected
At the end of November 2024, colleagues from the KSJ handed over a large quantity of collected corks to Naturschutzjugend Jena (NAJU). An impressive 500 kilograms of cork material have been collected since the campaign began in 2022 - that's the equivalent of over 20,000 bottle caps! The NAJU uses the collected corks for environmental education projects and creative activities that promote awareness of recycling and resource conservation.

This collection volume is made up as follows:

  • In 2022, a total of 150 kilograms of cork stoppers were collected.
  • In 2023 it was 140 kilograms.
  • In 2024 it was 200 kilograms.

Collect and hand in - it's that easy
Corks can be placed in the brown collection garbage can provided during the opening hours of the Recycling Center North. The garbage can is emptied regularly and the contents handed over to the NAJU. The campaign not only promotes environmental protection, but also the knowledge and handling of recycling and resource conservation.

The collection continues - also in 2025
The KSJ would like to thank all supporters and looks forward to many more hard-working collectors. Together, we are making an important contribution to environmental and species protection.

Since February 2022, bottle tops and jars made of tinplate can be handed in at the recycling centers of Kommunalservice Jena (KSJ) in specially marked collection garbage cans, the so-called "treasure boxes". The "crown caps" campaign enables everyone to support regional projects with a little passion for collecting and at the same time actively contribute to recycling.

The idea came from Jena vocational school teacher Shabnam Staudt, who submitted it as part of the Citizens' Budget 2022. The KSJ immediately implemented the concept - even before it was put to the vote. The "treasure chests" are located at the recycling centers at Löbstedter Straße 56 and Emil-Wölk-Straße 13a in Jena. In addition to citizens, initiatives and companies are also involved in this good cause.

Impressive collection results:

The quantities collected have increased year on year:

2022: 1,043 kg of crown caps (donation to the Jena Children's Aid Foundation)
2023: 1.955 kg of crown caps (donation to Jena Hospice)

But the absolute record year was 2024, in which 6.883 tons of crown caps were collected - 3.5 times the amount from the previous year! This corresponds to around 7 million bottle caps and represents a milestone for the project. The proceeds from the collection of €1,896.29 were handed over at the Ronald McDonald House in Jena on January 29, 2025.

Thanks to the donors:

Special thanks to all supporters who made this impressive sum from 2024 possible:

  • Largest single donor: the Ronald McDonald House Jena, which contributed 1.09 tons of crown caps - collected by the KSJ street cleaning service.
  • Jena Hospice: over 400 kg of crown caps collected.
  • Citizens from Jena and Pößneck: each contributed 180 kg.
  • Numerous associations, initiatives and individuals regularly took part in the collection.

Moving on: Support for the Naturschutzjugend Jena (NAJU)

The crown cork collection remains a real community campaign! The KSJ covers the handling costs, while the amount of the donation is calculated based on the amount of scrap. Current donation target: From now on, the collection will be for the Naturschutzjugend Jena (NAJU), the youth organization of the Naturschutzbund. The proceeds will be handed over in January 2026 to support their valuable work in nature conservation.

Join in - every crown cap counts!

Crown cap

Distribution

Löbstedter Straße 56
07749 Jena
Germany
Phone
03641 4989-250
Fax
03641 4989-259
E-Mail
vertrieb-ksj@jena.de

Distribution

Löbstedter Straße 56
07749 Jena
Germany
Phone
03641 4989-250
Fax
03641 4989-259
E-Mail
vertrieb-ksj@jena.de