Germany: Ali Luedke (Sustainability in Berlin)

Sustainability in Berlin: Recycling the German Way

When I arrived at my campus in Berlin, there was a whole section of my orientation dedicated to sorting trash in Germany. Some students laughed, but staff members urged that “this may just be the most important part of learning how to live in Berlin,” and for good reason. Before I came to Germany, I was completely unaware that Germany’s waste recycling system has been rated as the best in the world.

Recycling in Germany is a big deal, and you see spaces to recycle nearly everywhere in Berlin. The German recycling system uses six different colored bins to sort waste. Yellow is for plastics, blue is for paper and cardboard, white is for clear glass, brown is for colored glass, green is for green glass, and the sixth bin is for “Bio”, or food waste and organic matter. Such a strict waste sorting system sounds intimidating at first but gets easier with time. In my apartment, I have set aside different garbage bins to separate recyclable goods and Bio. I keep a reusable shopping bag in which I store items I can return through the Pfand system.

The Pfand system is a bottle return system. When you buy certain products in containers, you pay a deposit (Pfand) for the container. When you return the empty container, you get the deposit back. This can be done via machines in supermarkets or various other places such as liquor and convenience stores. The deposit you pay, and thus the money you get back, is not a lot. However, it is a worthwhile system, especially for those for whom every Euro counts. For example, on my first trip to the Pfand machine, I returned a variety of 25 containers, including glass, plastic, and aluminum cans, and received about 4 Euros back for my deposits. In Germany, it is completely appropriate to leave empty bottles on the ground near trash disposals, so anyone who needs them can collect and return them.

While Germany’s recycling system may sound complicated, it comes with great benefits. According to World Population Review, Germany recycles about 56% of all the waste it produces, compared to 32% in the United States. I believe the United States, along with many other countries, can learn from systems such as Germany’s in order to practice greater sustainability while we combat the environmental crises of our planet.

 

Ali Luedke 

Major: Life Sciences Communication (& Digital Studies Certificate)

Hometown: Plainfield, Illinois

Program: CIEE Open Campus Berlin, Germany