Stephanie Otto (l-r), CEO of Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR), Franziska Giffey (SPD), Berlin's Senator for Economics, and Manja Schreiner (CDU), Senator for Transport, stand at the Eulerstrasse playground at the start of the pilot phase for the cleaning of 85 playgrounds by BSR Berliner Stadtreinigung.
© dpa
Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR) will take care of 135 Berlin playgrounds in the future.
Initially, the state-owned company will take on the cleaning of 85 playgrounds, spread across all twelve Berlin districts. This was announced by Berlin's Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey and Senator for the Environment Manja Schreiner together with BSR CEO Stephanie Otto on Thursday.
All three visited the Eulerstraße playground in Gesundbrunnen to find out about the start of the so-called pilot phase. In the next step, a further 50 are to be added in the summer following the planned entry into force of an amended legal ordinance. The 135 playgrounds were selected by the Berlin districts under the leadership of the environmental administration. BSR employees are to clean them as required, depending on the number of visitors and the extent of the soiling. Experience in recent years has shown that the use of parks and green spaces has increased and with it the amount of waste.
BSR already cleans playgrounds if they are part of a green space that it is responsible for cleaning. The districts were previously responsible for playgrounds outside of larger parks - apart from the 135 that have now been defined, this will remain the case. Three million euros a year have been earmarked for the new BSR service in the 2024/2025 double budget. Economics Senator Giffey, who is also Chair of the BSR Supervisory Board, stated that the goal is a clean and liveable Berlin in which children can also play in clean playgrounds. Environment Senator Schreiner added that cleanliness and safety are particularly sensitive issues in playgrounds. It is therefore good and right that BSR is taking over the cleaning of more playgrounds than before.