The long tradition of Vienna’s waste collection and how It All Began

75 years ago, Vienna’s garbage collection service opened a new chapter: with the founding of what is now Municipal Department 48 for Waste Management, Street Cleaning, and Vehicle Fleet, the foundation was laid for the clean Vienna of today. A new ORF III documentary, directed by Werner Horvath, traces the eventful history of Vienna’s waste management and the MA 48 institution.

The Viennese garbage collection service, as we know it today, is a product of the First Republic. In the early years after the imperial era, the so-called “Colonia buckets” appeared, which were emptied regularly. Before that, Viennese residents simply dumped their household waste into the gutters – the waste consisted mainly of food scraps and ash and was washed away by the next rain. Along the Vienna River, the household waste usually ended up directly in the water but often got stuck when the water level was low and smelled terrible.

After World War II, the amount of waste increased dramatically – new ideas were needed to keep the capital clean: On March 1, 1946, MA 48, the Department for Waste Management, Street Cleaning, and Vehicle Fleet, was founded. Its history is chronicled in this documentary. Vienna’s waste collection service later expanded its capabilities to include a waste incineration plant and, after World War II, landfills to cope with the ever-increasing volume of packaging material.

Vienna is now considered one of the most livable cities in the world and this is due in no small part to its infrastructure, which was developed in both public and private spaces starting at the end of the 19th century.