One of the biggest differences between Germany and the US is the emphasis placed on being “green.” Over the past few months, I have encountered this difference repeatedly. For example, Germans take fewer and shorter showers, they hang dry their clothes, and they separate their trash into many bins for recycling. Admittedly, one can find Americans who follow these practices, and likewise, not all Germans implement these environmentally aware practices to same degree. When faced with environmental issues, everyone decides how he or she will individually participate. This fact has been the clearest in the way in which Germans recycle.

Recycling in Germany

The easiest way for me to fit into the culture of Germany would have been to just ask my host family what I should do. I chose not to do that because I wanted to learn about the issue on my own, use the system in my own way, and form my own opinions on the whole idea. This meant that I just collected trash in my room until I figured out where the trash ended up in our apartment building. Once I found this out, I went and looked at all the bins to figure out how I should be separating my trash.

A bin for everything

In the dumpster area, I found 7 bins. Each designated to a special kind of trash.

• Compost
• Light packaging
• Paper
• Clear glass
• Green glass
• Colored glass
• Everything else

In theory, there should be a place for every article of my trash in one of these bins. However, there are a few items with other systems in place for their recycling.

Bottle deposit system

You might be wondering where the plastic bottles end up in the above system. This was unclear to me as well. One explanation for its absence is that Germany has a bottle deposit system that puts a considerable redemption value on many kinds of bottles. The average 0.5L plastic bottle has a €0.25 ($0.36) deposit. As I have become a fan of carbonated water here, I would buy a six-pack of these 0.5L bottles weekly. Each of these bottle costs €0.19 plus the €0.25 deposit, meaning that the deposit (“Pfand”) costs more than the drink itself. I thought this was high, but the most expensive deposit I have seen was €0.50 on thick plastic yogurt bottles. With redemption rates this high, turning in the bottles for their deposits is very common. In fact, if people want to depose of bottles with deposits, they often leave their bottles intentionally out of trash cans, so that others can come collect and redeem them. At first, I did not understand why people were leaving their bottles on ledges without shame, but this practice made more sense after I figured out how the system works.

Initially, I thought the deposit system explained the lack of a plastic bottle recycling bin. However, there are plastic bottles without deposits, such as juice. Many companies even advertise this fact on their labels to entice buyers. I ended up putting my deposit-free bottles in the light packaging bin, where a lot of plastics end up.

Clothing donation bins

Every few blocks there are bins to donate clothes and shoes. I had a few articles of clothing that I wanted to get rid of, and I intended to just throw them away, but doing so felt wrong because they were still wearable. Therefore, I took the time to find a bin to dispose of these old clothes, even though it meant walking a few blocks.

Disposing of electronics

I am unsure how the recycling of electronics is handled in Germany, but I’m sure there is a place for their collection. My host family had a jar to collect old batteries, so I would assume there is some place for the handling of TVs, laptops, and other appliances.

What’s wrong with recycling?

Recycling is a good cause, and it makes sense to increase awareness of the fact that not all trash is the same. However, I have some concerns with it.

Who profits?

Recycling implies a system where one separates trash. By separating the trash, the value of the trash is increased. For example, glass bottles can be turned into glass used for new purposes, and organic waste can be turned into compost. The extra work that individuals put into recycling ultimately takes the form of money. The question is: where does that money end up?

In Berlin, a company named ALBA manages the recycling system. Berlin also has a basketball team named “ALBA Berlin.” It is often dangerous to make logical jumps like this, but in my eyes, this means that environmental consciousness is being turned into the salary of athletes. This seems wrong to me, and for this reason, I believe that recycling programs should be projects of the government. While the government may not be as efficient or aggressive as a private company in developing a recycling program, I would rather be sure of the fact that the time I spend recycling benefits the community and not individuals.

One bin is easier

There are things we want to keep, and there are things we want to get rid of, which we call trash. Nothing can trump the simplicity of having one bin for trash. It’s a natural concept, and the unattractive alternative is to keep increasing increasing the necessary number of recycling bins.

Opt-in means limited participation

Our current concept of recycling means that we have to chose to participate. While there may be tens of bins for my trash, I can always just dump everything together in the “everything else” bin without punishment. It’s too easy to not recycle, and if it makes such a big difference, this should not be the case.

Possible solutions

I see two solutions to the issue of getting people to recycle.

Monetary incentives

Trash has value, so maybe we should pay people for how much their trash is worth. Unfortunately, this system means that a lot more time and attention will be dedicated to trash. This is not a very productive use of time, and the monetary value of trash would probably be lower than the value of most people’s time.

Automated recycling

Recycling is menial task that turns humans into sorting machines that implement simple if-else logic. The question is: why does this process have to be executed by a human? If we could automate the separation of trash with a machine, then everyone who throws away trash would be recycling. This would make recycling impossible to opt-out of, basically ensuring complete participation. An automated system would centralize the separation of trash and ensure consistency in the process. If necessary, we could later modify the system should our needs change or increase the granularity of the sorting process should new categories of trash be desired. Such changes would not necessitate reeducating or changing the behavior of people; all we would have to do is modify or add to the machine. Most importantly, such a machine enables us to return guilt-free to the one-bin concept with its superior usability.