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Whether it’s board games, household electronics, elegant glasses, or vases: a diverse selection of treasures is displayed on rustic wooden boards. The wide-open doors of the little wooden hut at the Eilendorf recycling center invite visitors to browse to their heart’s content and take home a new favorite item or two—free of charge. Under the motto “Give away instead of throwing away,” the “Wunderkiste” offers a place for well-preserved items that are no longer needed in one’s own household but can still bring joy to others.

After a very successful three-year run at the Eilendorf recycling center, the popular “Wunderkiste” has now been renovated. This was made possible as part of the Interreg project “E6,” which is co-financed by the European innovation support program North West Europe. The new wooden house, now twice as large, offers enough space to display the diverse collection of found items in an even more organized and appealing way. “The Wunderkiste thrives on participation,” says waste management engineer Anja Maul from Aachen City Services, who is helping to oversee the project. “New items are dropped off for the Wunderkiste almost every day, some of them even still in their original packaging. Everyone involved is thus making a valuable contribution to waste prevention and noticeably extending the life cycle of these items. Especially in the case of electronic devices, this approach also effectively reduces the generation of electronic waste.” This is also connected to the “E6” project, which is creating structures where end-of-life electronic devices can be repaired and reused. The Wunderkiste will be inaugurated as part of Circular Week Aachen, which was organized by Aachen City Services and the municipal building management department in cooperation with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Center for Circular Economy at RWTH Aachen University.

Clear Rules for Fair Cooperation
To ensure that the Wunderkiste works smoothly, there are a few guidelines for using it:

Items Accepted: Only well-preserved, undamaged, and clean everyday items such as dishes, pots, decorative items, flowerpots, toys, and small electronic devices that are in working order may be donated.

These items are excluded: Among other things, clothing, food, cosmetics, large household appliances, and bedding such as mattresses, pillows, and comforters are excluded from the fee.

The rules for taking items home: Individuals may select items for their own personal use—even without making a donation. Commercial resale of the found items is strictly prohibited. To ensure fairness, each person may take a maximum of five individual items; exceptions are made for matching sets, such as tableware or glassware sets.