Less is Mehr(weg)
You could (buy your oat milk in TetraPaks), but you don’t have to (bottle more than 30x refillable).
When we visited Germany in the past, our boys used to love returning reusable (Mehrweg) bottles at reverse vending machines so they could collect the bottle deposit (Pfand). Even today, I get a kick out of inserting a bottle into the machine, watching it scan the bar code, and collecting my deposit coupon. Zero waste geek, I know!
Germany has long been a leader in developing policies and practices to promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Back in 1991, it passed some of the earliest “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) legislation in the world, which launched the modern recycling movement. For the first time, manufacturers and distributors were charged a fee to cover the costs of setting up a comprehensive recycling system to collect their packaging waste. As a result, Germany has become one of the world’s recycling champions, diverting 70% of municipal waste from the landfill and turning the rest into energy.
Countries with highest recycling rates 2017 (European Environmental Bureau)
But the title hides an inconvenient truth: while Germans have become supremely competent at sorting their waste, the country also generates more waste than most of its European neighbors. I have yet to see a comprehensive discussion of why this is so, but it’s probably a combination of its high GDP (note the northern European countries that dominate the list and eastern European countries at the bottom), high level of industrialization (manufacturing makes up a larger portion of its economy than in most peer countries), mistrust of digital services (and consequent high paper usage), and over-packaging in the food industry (which is heavily dependent on products from sunny southern Europe).
In an effort to make some headway against this trend, Germany updated its recycling laws in 2019 with the twin goals of improving the efficacy of the recycling system and promoting reuse. The major changes include:
implementing a central registry to ensure that all manufacturers comply with the requirement to pay for the management of the packaging waste they generate;
adopting new minimum packaging standards and setting fees based on the amount of packaging, recycled content, and ease of recycling;
ramping up recycling quotas (63% for plastics, 80% for TetraPaks, >90% for metal, glass, and paper); AND
charging deposits on recyclable beverage containers in addition to reusable ones & requiring that the latter be clearly identified in stores to increase the market share to 70% (where it used to be).
MEHRWEG = REUSABLE (+ 8 cent deposit/bottle)
The initial impact was quite positive. By 2020, the packaging recycling rate increased by 8% and Germany dropped several positions on the chart above. In fact, it was one of only a handful of countries to see its municipal waste generation decrease in the year before the pandemic. Unfortunately, however, Covid has halted progress across the Continent as masks have piled up and people increasingly shop online, leading to a flood of packaging waste.
Nevertheless, the lasting impact of German and European zero waste policies are evident any time we go to the store or buy a drink at the kiosk, and more steps are planned in the years ahead. Here’s an overview:
PLASTIC BANS
Plastic Bags Germany’s use of plastic bags has been below its peer countries for a long time. When visiting my grandparents as a kid, I remember having to bring our own bags to the grocery store. It is not surprising, therefore, that the average citizen consumed around 70 bags per year at a time when peer countries (and CA) were still using 200 bags (or more). In the past decade, during which major retailers agreed to start charging for bags, that number dropped to the low 20’s (similar to California after its bag tax was implemented). With the bag ban that just came into effect this year, Germany is now saying good-bye to the (standard) plastic bag for good.
Are plastic bags headed for obsolescence? (per capita/total plastic bag consumption per year)
Single-Use Plastics As of June 2021, many single-use plastic products are no longer allowed in the European Union: straws, utensils, plates, drink stirrers, q-tips, and styrofoam food & beverage containers. Products for which a ready replacement is not available (e.g. tampons & cigarettes) or whose plastic content might be a mystery (e.g. lined paper cups) must be labeled to make consumers aware of their plastic content so they are less likely of disposing them carelessly. It is a true testament to the power of the European Union’s single market that we have seen wooden spoons and pasta straws on all our recent travel.
That’s a straw, Lucas, not a snack!
REDUCE
Minimal Packaging The updated packaging ordinance has encouraged manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging and switch away from plastic to reduce the fee they have to pay to the recycling authority. It is quite common to see products labeled with a simple tag or for packaging to not completely cover (non-delicate) items.
German vs. American packaging
Another growing trend: “unverpackt” (unpackaged) stores are popping up all over Germany to cater to the wishes of ever more environmentally-savvy consumers. They feature a comprehensive bulk foods section as well as cleaning materials and household goods, all available without packaging. Rainbow Grocery shoppers will be familiar with the concept. :)
Concentrated Products Another way to minimize the amount of packaging is to increase the concentration of the product. That’s because ready-to-use products contain a lot of water, and water is heavy and takes up space, which drives up transportation emissions. There are numerous cleaning products available as concentrated liquids or in tablet form, both at natural food stores as well as Germany’s two major drugstore chains. Catch up, Heinz!
We got in on the action by reducing the size and plastic content of our shower products quite substantially.
We also get our oat milk as a powder and mix it up at home.
“Are you ready for the oat revolution?”
Refills Numerous products here are available in refill packs, and many stores are willing to use customers containers for deli or bakery counter items, which they sometimes make known via a simple window sticker. We reuse our coffee bags, egg cartons, floss container, and pickle jars (how German), to name a few. But the service we appreciate the most is Fandli, which delivers fresh groceries in reusable packaging via cargo bike! I am glad to hear similar services have launched in the Bay Area and nationally.
Food Waste A number of Berlin start-ups are focused on eliminating food waste. Sir Plus (get it?) sells items that have passed their “sell by” date. We’ve used the app Too Good to Go to find deals on leftover food from grocery stores, cafes, or restaurants. And we get the bulk of our produce from Querfeld, which sells blemished food that grocery stores won’t sell as well as the stuff that farmers don’t even bother to send to the grocery stores. You could think of the latter as Imperfect Produce on steroids, only the produce we get has never been in contact with any growth-promoting substances. Trust us!
REUSE
Mehrweg As I mentioned above, returnable bottles have been a part of German life as long as I can remember. Grocery stores are required to accept any bottles that they sell, since the manufacturer or distributor of those bottles regularly returns to the store and can pick up any empties. After you insert your bottles into the machine (below), you receive a receipt that can be redeemed at check-out. This is true for any recyclable bottles you return as well. Obviously, the latter are crushed and picked up by plastic dealers rather than being refilled and reused. Grocery stores have apparently made a pretty penny as plastic vendors and the system has led to Germany’s highest-in-Europe PET recycling rate.
Now you might be thinking, isn’t it bad to ship glass bottles all around the country? Correct! That’s why reusable bottles are standardized. The standard brown beer bottle is used by numerous manufacturers. Same for the clear water bottle, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. As a result, bottles are not sent back to the original manufacturer but to a local bottle depot, which distributes them to nearby manufacturers.
But what do you do with your heavy glass bottle if you’re out and about? Carry it around until you find a grocery store? You could definitely do that, but most people follow the practice of leaving bottles next to a trash can so the homeless can easily collect them. It’s similar to the way San Franciscans leave bottles sitting on top of trash cans in hopes that someone will recycle them.
To-Go Since we’ve been here, Germany has laid the foundation for the next major shift in its packaging policy. Starting in 2023, cafes and restaurants that meet a minimum size must make reusable to-go containers available to customers at the point-of-sale and all locations are required to fill containers provided by the customer. The goal is to get consumers used to the idea of declining disposable coffee cups. For now, there is no fee on single-use packaging (at least not nationally), but with the Greens in power at the federal level, that may be just around the corner.
Several vendors have developed reusable containers that are rented using a deposit system or tracked via bar-code. Re-Cup is the most widely used in Berlin. McDonalds is testing its version in ten restaurants across Germany.
The beauty of these systems is that the containers can be returned to any vendor using that system. By 2023, that will be a whole lot! (NOTE: Dispatch Goods and Vessel have launched similar services in the Bay Area.)
“Less is More/Reusable”
Events One area where Germany has long avoided waste is at events. Germany is rightfully suspicious of simply replacing plastic with paper and calling it a day. Disposable cups, no matter what the material, are rare. Whether you’re attending a soccer game or visiting a Christmas Market, chances are you’ll be forced to pay a deposit for your glass of beer or mug of mulled wine. Similarly, I’ve received chicken on a real plate, pizza on a wooden board, and baked apple in a ceramic bowl (so yummy, by the way).
Customers lining up to return reusable cups
Reuse & Repair Like in San Francisco, there are many opportunities to repair, loan, swap, donate, sell, or recycle used or unwanted goods in Berlin. You can search for stores and service providers on not one but two citywide maps. So you should have no problem getting your sneakers reconditioned, identifying a second-hand clothing shop or nearby foodsharing station, locating a repair cafe or tailor to fix a broken appliance or clothing item, or selling or buying used items online. Bavaria and Thuringia are even paying residents to have their electronics repaired instead of buying new.
The start-up ToolBot has set up tool-lending stations in numerous German cities.
Precisely because the number of resources is mind-boggling, only a motivated citizen is likely to search them out. In order for Re-Use to become a way of life for the population at large, it has to become more accessible. That’s why Berlin has launched two pilot projects to spiff up resale. The NochMall (pun on the word nochmal, which means “again” and Mall, which means…um…”mall”) provides an IKEA-like shopping experience without the massive consumption of natural resources. It even includes a cafe and event space, where zero waste seminars and upcycling workshops are held.
The city’s Re-Use team has also set up the B-Wa(h)renhaus (B-Ware means “second-hand” while bewahren means “preserve”) inside an upscale department store at Hermannplatz. The goal is to establish these all around town.
While you can get refurbished electronics at either location, the selection is quite limited. But help is on the way in the form of numerous online shops that cater to those wanting to save a buck or reduce their environmental footprint. We chose Grover to rent a computer for the boys during home schooling and Refurbed to get Lucas’s first cell phone. Boy was that a mistake. ;)
RECYCLE
L to R: landfill, packaging (plastic/metal), paper, glass (tinted), glass (clear), compost
Waste Collection Sorting waste in Germany requires a Master’s degree since the Germans place great value on pure waste streams. There’s no putting paper, plastic, metal, and glass in one bin. Oh no!
As you can see from our sorting station, there are at least seven waste streams:
packaging (plastic, including foils and flimsy plastic, and metals) YELLOW
paper (clean of course) BLUE
glass (clear collected separately) GREEN
special waste (electronics, clothing, toys, etc.) RED/ORANGE
compost (not shown) BROWN
bottles with deposit (we collect in the bag)
landfill (mixed or contaminated materials) GREY
If all of this is too complicated for you, you can ask for a personal consultation or sign up for a whole course. Better yet, manufacturers can help consumers by adding these labels as appropriate.
Designed for Disassembly Thanks to the update of the packaging policy, more and more manufacturers are now making their products easier to sort. As an example, paper and plastic are sometimes combined to create stiff yet airtight packaging. Since these materials are generally fused together, they must be disposed of in the trash. One company has solved this problem by making it possible for the consumer to break the packaging into its component parts, thereby facilitating proper recycling. Whether all consumers are as fastidious about doing so as we are is of course an open question.
E-Waste Berlin has launched a cheeky ad campaign to encourage its citizens to recycle old electronic devices. While until recently, it was only possible to recycle E-waste at official recycling centers (map), a new federal law now makes it mandatory for all stores (of a minimum size) that offer electronic appliances to also collect them for recycling. This applies to B2B vendors, online stores, and even grocery stores that sell small electrics like toothbrushes or kitchen tools. The law also requires manufacturers to design their products so that batteries may be removed easily.
The goal is for the collection rate for electric devices to increase from 45% to 65% (by weight) in the next few years. That current rate is achieved mainly through recycling centers, as only 10% of appliances are returned to the vendor that sold them. While grocery and drug stores already provide collection stations for batteries and light bulbs, the new requirements will mean a massive extension of the recycling infrastructure in Germany. (NOTE: The mandatory reuse or recycling rate for collected appliances ranges from 55-80%.)
Recycled Content Of course, recycling your trash is not enough. To close the loop, you have to consume recycled materials. As a consumer, that’s easier said than done.
One of the first things I discovered upon our move to Berlin was the number of products that are now sold in recycled (as opposed to recyclable) packaging. Clearly, the new packaging fee structure has incentivized manufacturers to incorporate recovered plastic in their products. In fact, with a recycled plastic content of 40%, German bottles are already meeting the EU requirement for all PET beverage containers to incorporate a recycled content of 30% by the year 2030.
With climate change in the news so much, I often wonder if society will achieve the renewable energy feature we know we need. Since coming to Germany, I have also wondered whether we can achieve zero waste in my lifetime. While Europe is no where near that mark, I do see signs of the long-term planning that just might get us there. If successful, many more children will know the pleasure of returning a bottle at the grocery store. :)