Garbage isn’t something you need, it’s exactly what you don’t need. Garbage cans, on the other hand, are in demand almost always and everywhere. For example in Oberhausen, where there are complaints that many people throw their rubbish on meadows and in bushes. So now the city is going to put one of those high-tech trash cans that’s all the rage right now into service.

One of these smart buckets from the Dutch company “Mr. fill”. The device is officially called the “Self-compacting solar waste container”. It compresses the rubbish after it has been thrown in, so that up to seven times as much can fit in as in normal bins. The price: around 5000 euros.

Yes, you read that right. Oberhausen treats itself to just one of these super garbage cans. For the rest area at the Ruhr dike, where the old buckets overflow. Two years ago, the city tested one of these at the main train station. One should also do his duty in the Imperial Garden. Not exactly lavish facilities for a city of 100,000, but at least a start.

How things will end is uncertain. On the North Sea island of Juist, a “Mr. Fill” up his spirit after just three days. Bitter: Ultimately, even a mega garbage can is a product like any other. At some point it ends up in the garbage.