Recycling in Germany

A circular economy embodies the idea that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” A diagram from The Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) illustrates how a circular economy works.

Start with your primary resources (e.g., wood, metal, plastic). Primary resources are put into production for items to trade. Trade ensues between the suppliers and consumers at the markets. Over time, the items from the market go kaput in some fashion. These items are now considered waste, but some wouldn’t consider it a complete waste.

Waste management companies take waste, prepare it and sell it as a secondary resource. This resource can be used to create the same products or shaped into entirely different products, thus inviting new products into the market and continuing the circular economy cycle.

By introducing a circular economy and implementing recycling into the mix, less trash occupies landfills and incinerators, reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the air. There’s less of a need for landfills and incinerators. The polluting municipalities were eventually phased out by 2005 and replaced with more controlled incinerators and mechanical-biological treatment facilities. Today, the waste management sector employs almost 300 thousand workers, makes 80 billion Euros in revenue and contributes to the national effort for net zero emissions.

Germany Waste Management Policy

According to Earth.org, Germany is one of the leaders in recycling and waste management. Through government policies and raised public awareness, 67 percent of waste was recycled in 2019, surpassing the goal of 65 percent by 2035. Germany may be one of the largest plastics manufacturers in the EU, but with a circular economy, less plastic waste is produced and exported.

By law, industries and residents are responsible for waste production. Germans take trash separation very seriously; improper waste separation can lead to heavy fines, be quite pricey for repeat offenders, and be incredibly frustrating for those living in apartment buildings — a personal experience with frustration over repeat offenders. After we moved into our apartment, we were urged to break down boxes when throwing out paper waste. Only some people abided by this, as boxes piled in the dumpster room were laid next to the blue bins meant for them. I assumed the offender(s) hoped municipal workers would take the boxes when they came to pick them up. On that day, the workers refused to take any boxes outside the blue bins as it would exceed the payment received for the service. The landlord wasn’t pleased about this, and they sent every tenant a reminder to break down boxes. It stated that if the problem continues, everyone must pay extra for additional disposal. Since all residents are responsible for their waste, landlords can issue a warning and proceed with additional charges if the matter is unresolved. We haven’t had an issue with the paper waste bins since.

The government is behind many of the innovations in waste management in Germany. The Packaging Ordinance enforces regulations on packaging manufacturers and distributors to reduce waste production. Very rarely will you see bubble wrap or plastic air bags in packages. Amazon packages feel lighter than in the US, making them easier to break down while reducing waste production. So, how can fragile items make it through transit without the cushy bubble wrap and airbags? My medical cannabis medication is delivered in a glass jar wrapped excessively with shredded paper to prevent the glass from breaking and releasing a potent smell. No jars have arrived broken yet.

Single-use plastics and plastic bags were banned in 2021, and when we moved, all restaurants switched to paper straws. All retail stores stopped using plastic bags. You can still purchase paper bags at the checkout lane, but most people use their shopping bags. My husband and I are big fans of Aldi back in the US, so we’re no strangers to this way of shopping.

Recycling in Germany

I’ve grown to appreciate the organization of trash separation. Waste is more likely to be recycled when separated into different categories, and each type has a different recycling process. Paper is sent to paper mills, plastics to processing plants, and metals to workshops. Glass has a unique category since other types of glasses are involved. Glass is sorted, cleaned and then crushed for reuse in glass shops.

Diversifying waste management also helps lower energy consumption in these industries. The glass industry’s consumption went down 35 percent. The steel industry reduced consumption by 50 percent. The plastics industry dropped consumption by over 70 percent. The aluminum industry had the most significant decline in energy consumption by over 90 percent.

Remember the six trash bins chilling in my kitchen from earlier? Not everything can go in them. Some types of waste require different disposal methods, like medicines, solvents, lightbulbs and adhesives that must be dropped off at a recycling depot. Did your refrigerator stop running? Bulky items like appliances and residual waste like wood and metal can also be dropped off at the recycling depot. Batteries are disposed of at a hardware or drugstore.

Clothes are another thing you can’t toss in the trash bin. Old, tattered clothes can be thrown into clothing containers. The German Red Cross can provide locations to drop off unwanted couture, and thrift stores will gladly accept unwanted clothes in decent condition.

German Bottle Recycling Machines

Some plastic bottles are too good for the bin. Germany uses a Deposit Refund System (DRS) similar to states like Michigan and Iowa. Consumers pay a small deposit for the beverage container, which can be returned for a refund. You can find these collectors at local retail stores. One store I frequently visit has automated machines to drop off the bottles. Instead of a refund, I get a receipt for a discount on the total grocery bill, which is an excellent way to save money for upcoming travels.

DRS has become increasingly popular here, with a return rate of over 98 percent. Of course, not everyone is particular about their trash and those precious bottles get mixed up in public waste bins. Some locals fish through these bins to find those bottles and make a little coin. It was quite a site seeing someone excavate a public waste bin for an empty bottle of soda. I started calling these people “trash vigilantes” for their unwarranted yet appreciative deeds.

Compost and Biowaste

The University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management (ISWA) says it can. ISWA is behind many research projects on the environmental impacts of waste management; one notable project involved using coffee grounds and other organic waste as fertilizer for a coffee farm in Costa Rica. Researchers at ISWA found that fermenting biowaste creates a nutrient-rich fertilizer, lowering greenhouse gas emissions from planting and harvesting. According to ISWA, agriculture is the fourth most significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions.

Biowaste or compost has other uses than fertilizing. It can be fermented into biogas at mechanical-biological treatment facilities, providing an alternative to fossil fuels. It can also be burned in a controlled incinerator, creating heat and electricity and helping reduce the amount of trash occupying landfills. Less waste in landfills releases fewer greenhouse gases like methane into the air.

Laundry in Germany

Germans prefer to hang-dry their clothes. As a neighbor once told me, Germans hang almost 90 percent of their clothes, if not all of them. I know what some of you are thinking: who wants to see a pair of underwear flowing outside like a kaftan on a runway? No one, and for Americans, hanging clothes outside can make the property look cheap. This is not the case for Germans, as many bring their drying racks out to their balcony or garden hidden from street view.

There are many reasons why Germans prefer to hang-dry their clothes. An article from Almanac gives reasons why hang-drying is better than heat-drying:

• Clothes last longer when hang-dried, while dryers tend to wear down clothes. That’s why clothes sometimes shrink after a cycle, and the lint collector is cleared frequently.
• You save more without a dryer. Without a dryer, you can save up to 20 percent on utility bills yearly while reducing your carbon footprint and saving energy.
• You lessen the risk of accidental fires in your home. About 4 percent of house fires are from dryers in any given year due to lint in the air ducts. That’s why air ducts need to be cleaned periodically.
• It takes you outside. It’s essential to go out for some fresh air often, and a mundane task like hang-drying can also be meditative and improve overall health.
• Sunlight is nature’s bleach, which helps with stubborn sweat stains. The downside is it fades colors, so turn colored clothes inside out to avoid fading.
•  Towels become stiffer and more rigid, which isn’t appealing until you know that stiff towels can act as exfoliants. If that still doesn’t sound appealing, the good news is that the humidity in the bathroom from a hot shower can soften them a bit.

Another reason Germans prefer to hang dry is that housing is much smaller here than in the US. A German home averages about 1,400 sq. ft compared to the US average of 1,900 sq. ft, so there’s less space to work with here. In my apartment, the connecting pipe for the washer is located in the bathroom, leaving no room for a dryer.

There’s no forced air conditioning here either, which increases the chance of mold forming due to excess moisture. We must open windows daily to let the moisture out and fresh air in. Wet laundry hanging in the apartment will increase humidity, so it’s best to leave it outside. It will take longer for clothes to dry in the winter, so I usually leave them inside and turn on the dehumidifier to keep the humidity below 60 percent.

Commuting in Germany

If you can imagine commuting in large cities like New York or Chicago, apply that to any town in Germany. There are many modes of transportation; for larger cities like Berlin or Stuttgart, public transportation is the preferred method of commuting.

Many residents also prefer to ride their bikes to get around. Main roads and residential areas have lanes specifically made for bikes. Next to my apartment building is a bike trail extending from the outskirts of town to the Danube River. German cities can be densely populated, so with some stores nearby, it seems better to ride the bike half a kilometer to the post office rather than drive.

There’s also the electrification of transportation. An article from Bloomberg showcases new electric buses making their debut in Berlin. As the war in Ukraine further motivates the energy transformation, the goal is for all public buses to be electric and emission-free by 2030. This switch from diesel to electric will cost up to $2 billion, including digitalizing the new buses and letting drivers know where charging stations are and if there’s enough time to make it there.

Trains are also in the process of electrification. The German train company Deutsche Bahn is currently working to change the infrastructure of rail lines to benefit the new electric trains. To do this, they are “electrifying” rail lines that will charge the train enough to get to the next stop or electrified rail. These sections will only extend to a maximum of a few kilometers. The current project is set to finish at the end of 2023.

Green Goals

US expats experience culture shock to some degree. Waste management here shocked us, but we learned to adapt. It gave us a different perspective on trash and its potential benefits for society. You wouldn’t think trash would be this shiny, glimmering booty, but it can be a treasure worth hunting for.

Green living encompasses so much it seems impossible to do a complete 180 and embody the energy of Greta Thunberg overnight. Ditching old habits and adopting new ones takes time, but the drive to change those habits starts with one step. For some, it may be the day to begin hang-drying clothes. For others, it may be time to start saving money on an EV or saving to install solar panels on the roof.

Jackson Lebedun is an independent journalist who has written articles about sustainable living in Germany. He lived there for two years with his husband and dog, but they now reside in Illinois. In his spare time, Jackson likes to frolic in nature and make friends with trees.