SERO System of the GDR

The VE Kombinat Sekundärrohstofferfassung (SERO System) was a company in the GDR whose task was to ensure the maximum collection of secondary raw materials from households. To this end, a dense network of collection points was operated, which bought up secondary raw materials (used materials) and put them to further use. These collection points operated under a uniform SERO logo, the mascot being the pink elephant Emmy.

This page documents the abridged version of the “Structural analysis of the SERO system in the GDR with regard to efficiency and suitability under market economy conditions”. It was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology and carried out by the Department of Waste Management and Recycling of the University of Kassel under the auspices of the German Federal Environment Agency.

The starting point for the study was the unification of the two German states that began after 3 October 1989. This provided the first opportunity to comprehensively examine the developments that had taken place in the field of secondary raw materials management in the GDR.

The aim of this structural analysis was to examine the part of the secondary raw materials economy in the GDR that operated the collection of secondary raw materials, especially from private households (SERO system), to see to what extent this system or parts of it could be operated under market economy conditions.

The value of this structural analysis lies, among other things, in the fact that a phase of GDR history such as the handling of secondary raw materials was comprehensively documented and thus made accessible to all parties interested in waste management.

Chapters A, B, C, D, F and G were included in the abridged version of the structural analysis. This can be consulted by interested parties in the library of the Federal Environment Agency or in the libraries of the Gesamthochschule Kassel (in Kassel or Witzenhausen). In addition, it is possible to borrow the complete report from the Technical Information Library in Hanover or the library of the Federal Environment Agency.

The unabridged version of the structural analysis comprises four volumes. These are listed in the following table. The downloadable chapters (in German only) of the abridged version are marked with the chapter letters in the third column.

Volume No. Chapter Name Download
Band I:

A.      Material und Methoden
B.      Grundlagen der Sekundärrohstoff-Wirtschaft der DDR
C.      Organisation und Leistungsbilanz des Kombinates SERO

Chap. A-B
Chap. C1-2.1
Chap. C 2.2
Chap. C 2.3-4

Band II: D.      Beurteilung des SERO-Systems unter marktwirtschaftlichen Bedingungen
         nach der Wende
E.       Bedeutung der Verpackungswirtschaft der DDR
F.       Thesen zum SERO-System
G.      Zusammenfassung

Chap. D

E
Chap F-G

Band III Anlagen  
Band IV: Darstellung der Recyclingmärkte in der BRD