Germany\'s recycling program

Germany has been quite successfull in her recycling program. When I first came to Weimar we've been told to learn how to recycle in the residence. And the Hausmeister was quite clear about the importance of it. In our residence there were no;different colors; bins as we have in Spain so it was quite confusing at the beggining. So I asked a german friend to explain to me how did all the thing work. It seemed quite interesting to me that in Germany they sort the glass by colors. Any kind of bottle that is non-returnable goes to the designated glass bin. So there are different slots for depositing green, brown and clears glass. You can find these bins in every neighborhood and you can recycle the bottles anytime but the quite time (it includes sundays), or you can get in trouble:).

The other bins you can find them at your doorstep and depending on the city you can have the colorful coded ones (green, blue, yellow, brown and gray) or simple but with the sign with what material goes in with the lid in the color in question. In the absence of a yellow bin, you may have to put the plastig into a yellow plastic bag and place it outside in order to be collected by schedule. There is also a request to rinse a little the cups before we throw them into the bin.

The paper is usually recycled in the blue bins and there belongs all the packaging made of paper or cardboard (make sure there is no plastik left), newspaper, magazines, paper bags. The tissues do not belong here!

The biological waste is very important to be recycled correctly in Germany because it has as an end result making energy through the natural fermenting gases or it is used as garden compost. Kitchen scraps, leftover food, tea bags, coffee filters and garden waste - all these go into the brown bin.

And finally the gray;waste; bin or the one called as well;Restmüll; includes all other stuf that can't be recycled. But the flourescents tubes, batteries, acids, disinfectants, adhesives, corrosives, cans of paint that still contain paint and other harmful objects- all these things have to be treated as hazardous waste. There is a truck collecting all this kind of waste, 'cause if you throw them into the brown bin it will be burned and can produce extremely poisonous gasses.

It seems quite complicated but you'll have to pay large fines if you disobey the rubbish laws in Germany.