The corpse of the building rubble disposal company Lutz Köhm - wrapped in black plastic foil - is fished out of the garbage on the premises of Kai Milas' dilapidated disposal company.
The inspectors learn from the dead man's girlfriend, Jasmin Schulte, that the business relationship between Lutz Köhm and Kai Milas had recently been very strained. Jasmine is also the focus of the investigators.
There were heated arguments between her and her boyfriend Lutz when she found out about his affair. While researching the work environment of the murder victim, Marie Brand and Jürgen Simmel find out that until a year ago he was still employed at the large recycling center in Schottbusch. When he caused an accident there that put a man in a coma, he was released. The generous compensation he received from his boss Patrick Schottbus makes the inspectors suspicious. What does it matter that the victim of the accident was an environmentalist looking for illegal activities at the big business's recycling yard?
The accident victim's activist group has published clear evidence that Schottbusch illegally dumps its recycling waste abroad. Active in the group are Leslie Hollmann, the dead man's sister and his girlfriend Juna Becker. When the commissioners find out that the injured environmentalist died in hospital shortly before Lutz Köhm was murdered, they suspect the key to the investigation is the connection between the two deaths.
Marie is also confronted with a burst water pipe in her apartment. Her landlord and boss Engler tries to regulate the situation, but this causes even more chaos because Marie's furniture is accidentally disposed of as bulky waste. In order to cover up the mishap, the inspector is summarily quartered with her colleague Simmel, who, however, has just moved in with his new girlfriend Annika, who thinks Marie is more than his colleague.