Keeping the city clean.

Early in the morning, Jens Haase leaves the depot of the Northeim district waste management service in his bin lorry. Inga Klöber was there with her camera. Her picture is part of the exhibition ‘Fotografie trifft Abfallwirtschaft’ (Photography meets waste management), for which eight students from our programme worked with the trade union ver.di.

The project grew out of a seminar taught by Prof. Michael Trippel. It was initiated by Jelca Kollatsch, a former student of our programme. She is now responsible for the utilities and waste management sector at ver.di.

The students portrayed 17 workers from four municipal companies: people who empty bins, sweep pavements and take in old fridges and electronic waste at recycling centres.

In Celle, Clara Bertlich accompanied the waste collection crew, while Sarah Jansky joined the street cleaners around Hannover’s main station. Anna Daliah Behnke took pictures at a biological waste treatment plant, where protective suits and respirators are part of the work gear.

‘The exhibition turns the spotlight on the challenges facing the sector: physically demanding work, health risks and the worry of many workers that they will not be able to stay in their job until retirement,’ says Trippel. The union is showing the pictures from 27 October to 14 December 2026 at the ver.di-Höfe in Hannover. It pays tribute to people whose work usually only gets noticed when it is left undone.