Plastikflaschen Pfand System Flaschen
Foto: Nick Fewings/unsplash

The system of deposit bottles in Germany

In many countries, empty bottles are often thrown into the plastic waste. In Germany it is different: You have probably seen people going to the supermarket with big bags with empty plastic bottles or even glass bottles. This has a reason!

Pfandzeichen
This is the symbol for "Pfand". These are the bottles that you need to bring back to the supermarket.
Foto: alvivi

If you buy a drink in Germany in a plastic bottle or even a can, you pay 25 cents more on the price in the supermarket. This is also the case with some glass bottles and also with beverage crates.

You can recognize the bottles by the symbol on the picture. All these bottles should be brought back to the supermarket.


When the bottles are empty, you bring them back to the supermarket. There are big machines often in the entrance of the store where you can give the bottles back. If you do not find it you can ask the employees. The word for this machine is "Pfandautomat".

After you put the bottles into the machine, you get a receipt. With this receipt you have to go to the cash desk to get the deposit money back :)


It is important that you leave the label on the bottle. The machine needs it to check if you get a deposit "Pfand" for your bottle.

Where do you dispose of other bottles that do not have a deposit label? You can read about that in this article.

 

 

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