Recycling in Stuttgart Germany

Recycling on the Economy in Germany

In Stuttgart Bad Cannstatt you must recycle the following in separate bins (varies by neighborhood), we have 6 in our apartment. We’ve heard that if it’s not done properly, the trash men will put a sticker on the bag and leave.

1. Anything Plastic and Foil
   • Plastic must go in a special yellow plastic bag with writing on it. They sell yellow bags on the shelf in the grocery store for recycling (easy right?) but those are not it. After searching the city recycling site and expat blogs with no luck on where to find these we asked our local friends who advised we would need to go to the Rathaus (City Hall? so weird). We finally made it there and they pointed us to a household goods department store across the street on the 3rd floor. There were no bags to be found on the shelves.  Thinking this is almost a lost cause, we waited in line to ask the checkout lady in our very best German “Haben sie geld… plastic bags?” and wouldn’t you know it,  behind checkout they keep a box of the correct rolls of yellow recycling bags which are free, you just have to know they are there and ask. The gal gave us 2 rolls and it made our day, but what a hunt that was!
2. Paper – this can go all together, no need to separate magazines and newspapers etc like in some other areas.
3. Bio – egg shells, fruit peels etc.
4. Bottles – Glassseparatedbypfand (plastic bottles alsohavepfands) and color glass
   • pfands are paid when you buy something automatically at the local grocery store and shown separately on your receipt. In the US, bottle refund is only a state thing, we did this in Hawaii but it was not that much, usually 5 cents a bottle. In Germany its a huge difference, you pay  up to 25 euro cents per bottle so it adds up fast and definitely benefits you to return the bottles  back to the store for your refund. You don’t have to return them at the same store.  Any store that has a refund machine will do. You get a slip and take it to the register for your money back.
   • Look for this symbol on plastic bottles so you know if you get a refund before throwing them out:
     
   • The glass that isn’t refund worthy, you do have to take out yourself to the glass bin in your neighborhood. It took us forever to see the bins, but once you see one, now we see them everywhere. Its a blue looking round dumpster with 3 color coded spots to insert each kind of glass for recycling.

Recycle PDF Guide for Boblingen area.

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