STUMMER refuse collection vehicles are not only used in urban areas – high up in the mountains, the vehicles in the 7.5 to 12-ton class in particular can be found mastering the steepest lanes and wintry slides.

Remote mountain villages and alpine highlands offer breathtaking panoramic views—not just to residents and tourists, but also to those tackling the daily challenges of life in these rugged areas. How is garbage collected up here? Especially when ice and snow make every trip a clambering adventure in winter? Four-wheel-drive vehicles are built for challenging high-altitude conditions. Narrow lanes, steep paths, fresh snow – no problem. STUMMER regular customers have appreciated this for many years and regularly order vehicles that are custom-made for their specific needs.

In winter, the Tyrolean village of Galtür nestled high in the mountains is the last accessible village in the popular Paznaun Valley. The road simply ends beyond Galtür. In summer, the Silvretta High Alpine Road passes through Bieler Spitz and Kresper Spitze, offering plenty of scenic views, before continuing on to Partenen. From the end of October, however, the road is closed to traffic. Galtür has around 200 households and 800 inhabitants. In winter, the number multiplies to a good 4,000 – thanks to ski tourism.

The narrow, steep lanes wind their way through the small village. In winter, slippery ice and heavy snowfall make it even more difficult to reach the houses. In short, it’s a challenge for waste disposal. It is no coincidence that Galtür is the only place in the district where garbage is still picked up directly from households. “A real convenience for the locals,” says Markus Lorenz, head of the Galtür building yard. And that is highly valued by the people of Galtür: Everyone does their part, placing bins outside only in the morning to prevent freezing at temperatures below zero.

Alpine climber in Tyrol: looking forward to the electric motor

About every 20 years, the municipality of Galtür in Tyrol orders a single vehicle from STUMMER. A Mini XL with all-wheel drive, SK351 W+E beam lifter and a volume of eleven cubic meters. Exactly tailored to the needs of the village at 1,584 meters above sea level.

“When the first STUMMER vehicle was put into service in 1988, there weren’t many suppliers that built vehicles of a suitable size,” explains Lorenz. “And with all-wheel drive and snow chains…” Up to 15 times in winter, they would be mounted, after all, the vehicle must be able to clear its own way in snow or fresh snow. The nimble little vehicle is in use throughout the week: recycling on Mondays, plastic on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, residual waste on Thursdays and cardboard on Fridays. “At the moment,” explains Markus Lorenz, “one man can manage that on his own”. There are four of them in total and each can cover for the others. “But if tourism picks up even more, it’s going to be tight.” Lorenz is planning to use an electric motor in the next vehicle. “A tour covers 35 kilometers, and then there are another eleven kilometers to the disposal company or the biogas plant. We were a little worried that the battery power wouldn’t be enough – especially in the cold and for the four-wheel drive. But when the next vehicle is due in 20 years, the technology is sure to have come on a lot…”

European premiere at the top in Zermatt!

Even in the world-famous Alpine idyll of Zermatt, at the foot of the majestic Matterhorn, waste disposal is a matter for the experts. The construction of Europe’s highest mountain station at almost 3,900 meters last year has given the municipality a tourism turbo boost. The number of overnight stays has exploded, and Zermatt is already ranked third among Switzerland’s top tourist destinations, after Zurich and Geneva.

Many people, a lot of garbage – the system must also function reliably under alpine and winter conditions. For the first time, the municipality of Zermatt has now put a STUMMER Micro XL superstructure on a fully electric Fuso eCanter 9C18 4×2 into operation. The future-oriented vehicle sets new standards in sustainable waste management and has already generated enthusiasm during the first test drives: from the collection of various waste fractions to the innovative use of data technologies. The fully electric chassis also operates the entire truck body via an on-board power take-off (PTO) and is the first in Europe to be equipped with an interface that complies with EN 1501-1:2021.

Florian Egger from Contena Ochsner AG is impressed by the effective synergies that interact so innovatively on board the new vehicle: “The project is the result of strong collaboration between Daimler Truck Schweiz AG, KOCO Solutions AG and us. A weighing and identification system enables precise and automatic data collection. The KOCOweighing software module ensures efficient data processing, which makes it possible to charge the costs to the party responsible and to achieve maximum transparency throughout the entire disposal process.”

A new, clean wind is blowing through the popular resort of Zermatt, paving the way for the next generation of high-tech refuse collection vehicles in the heart of the Alpine mountains.

Carinthia: The magnificent little one

In Carinthia, a small power pack that our colleagues from KULT34 are particularly looking forward to is about to start work. The brand-new two-axle MINI with beam lifter SK 351 Weighing and detecting STUMMER on a MAN chassis is a specialist and an all-rounder in one.

“Since we also deliver to some communities on the shores of the beautiful Wörthersee, we need a very low vehicle that can pass through the area’s tunnels and underpasses with a clearance height of just 3 meters,” explains Bernd Seefried, managing director of KULT34. But from the shores of Lake Wörthersee, the route also goes right up into the mountains, where extreme inclines and narrow paths are compounded by difficult weather conditions during the winter months. Four-wheel drive is a must here to keep going.

Bernd Seefried: “On the one hand, low-lying, on the other, powerful four-wheel drive always requires a lot of ground clearance… In addition, the vehicle should be as slim as possible to get through our narrow streets – but of course with a large capacity. Only STUMMER with MAN can combine these contradictions for us in Austria.”

Four days a week, the new ‘great little one’ will be on the road in the mountains and valleys of Carinthia. Its job: to collect household and commercial waste, compact paper and cardboard, and collect organic waste. It will start work at the end of March, but Bernd Seefried is already feeling confident and grins as he says, “The Stummer vehicle it is replacing worked tirelessly for 14 years – and it’s aged well, just like us!” But now we’re looking forward to the new one.” It’s clear to see that the whole team has already taken the new ‘little’ member of the family into its heart.