Environment

The town of Varnsdorf is located in the northern foothills of the Lusatian Mountains, in the valley of the Mandava River. The area is characterised by a favourable environment, separated from the lower districts of the Ústí nad Labem Region by mountains and extensive forests, and local industry has historically been oriented towards light textile and engineering production. The town lies on the northern edge of the Lusatian Mountains Protected Landscape Area, near the Bohemian Switzerland National Park. From the west, the town is bordered by the Labské pískovce Bird Area and the Světlík Nature Reserve. Historically, Varnsdorf is known as a town of gardens and trees, as it was created by the gradual merger of several villages and lacks a typical urban core, instead it has a larger proportion of urban greenery. The town has several large parks, a number of small park areas and 13 memorial trees.

Air pollution in the city is mainly caused by local sources. Most houses are connected to gas or use modern eco-friendly solid fuel boilers. However, some households still use old boilers and burn inferior coal. There is also central heating in parts of the town. Industrial sources of air pollution mostly use modern low-emission technologies. Local car traffic is a significant contributor to air pollution and is slowly but steadily increasing. Fortunately, with the current border permeability, no significant transit traffic passes through the city. The air quality in the city was monitored in the past by a measuring station of the Czech Hydrometeorological Office, but as there were hardly any exceedances of the immission limits and the values were low most of the time, the measurements were discontinued as redundant.

Water purity is also an integral part of environmental quality. The town of Varnsdorf lies in the catchment area of the Mandava River, which crosses the state border between the Czech Republic and Germany three times. It rises on the Czech side, flows through the Czech town of Rumburk, through the German municipality of Seifhennersdorf, returns to the Czech side to Varnsdorf and after 6 km flows into the German Grossschönau. In 1997, a unique sewage system was built along the river, which carries sewage from both the Czech and German sides to a large common sewage treatment plant. Velveta a.s. also built a separate wastewater treatment plant. Minor pollution still flows into the Mandava from areas where the sewerage system does not reach, but the amount is no longer large and the water in the Mandava is relatively clean and full of fish.

Varnsdorf has developed a comprehensive waste collection system that allows citizens to conveniently dispose of all types of waste and motivates them to sort it. Varnsdorf is one of the best in the collection of sorted waste thanks to the combination of container and bag collection. The waste management system is provided by EKO servis Varnsdorf a.s., which is 45 % owned by the town