🛁 Who Takes Care of Trash & Recycling? How to Return Bottles and Get Your "Pfand" Back?
🌟 Recycling Trash Bins
All our homes should have access to the appropriate waste containers for separating household waste.
In Hamburg, waste is generally separated into four main categories:
♻️ Green Bin – Bio Waste (Biotonne)
For organic kitchen and garden waste, such as:
Fruit and vegetable leftovers
Cooked food leftovers
Coffee grounds, coffee filters and tea bags
Eggshells
Bread and other food leftovers
Flowers and garden waste
⚠️ Do not put plastic bags, including biodegradable plastic bags, in the green bin. Use paper bags or wrap wet food waste in newspaper instead.
🔵 Blue Bin – Paper & Cardboard (Papiertonne)
For recyclable paper and cardboard, such as:
Newspapers and magazines
Cardboard boxes
Paper packaging
Paper bags
Books and brochures
⚠️ Milk cartons and juice cartons do NOT belong in the blue bin. They should go in the yellow bin.
🟡 Yellow Bin – Packaging & Recyclable Materials (Wertstofftonne)
For packaging and recyclable materials made of plastic and metal, such as:
Plastic packaging
Plastic bottles without Pfand
Aluminium cans and foil
Food cans
Milk and juice cartons
Plastic household items and metal objects suitable for recycling
⚫ Black Bin – General Waste (Restmüll)
For waste that cannot be recycled or placed in the other containers, such as:
Hygiene products
Diapers
Used tissues and paper towels
Vacuum cleaner bags
Cigarette butts and ashes
Cat litter
Broken ceramics and porcelain
Please make sure to separate your waste correctly and check the official guidelines if you are unsure where something belongs.
👉 Find more information here: Stadtreinigung Hamburg – Waste Separation
🍾 How to Return Bottles & Get Your Pfand Back?
Germany has a bottle return system called the Pfand system.
When purchasing certain drinks, you pay a deposit (Pfand) for the bottle or can. When you return the empty packaging to an eligible store, you receive your deposit back.
This system encourages the reuse and recycling of beverage containers.
🔍 How to Identify Pfand Bottles?
Pfand bottles and cans can usually be identified by their labels.
Look for:
The DPG logo on eligible single-use bottles and cans (Einweg).
The word Pfand or Mehrweg on reusable bottles.
Deposit information on the product label or receipt.
The deposit for eligible single-use beverage bottles and cans (Einweg) is €0.25 per container.
Reusable bottles (Mehrweg) may have different deposit amounts depending on the bottle and manufacturer.
🛍️ Where to Return Bottles?
You can return eligible Pfand bottles and cans at:
Supermarkets: Most larger supermarkets have bottle-return machines (Pfandautomaten), usually near the entrance. Insert your empty bottles and cans, and the machine will print a voucher (Pfandbon) that you can redeem at the checkout.
Discounter Stores: Supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and other discount stores also commonly offer bottle-return machines.
Beverage Stores (Getränkemärkte): These are particularly useful when returning larger quantities of bottles or crates.
⚠️ Important:
Stores with more than 200 m² of sales area must accept eligible single-use deposit containers made from the same materials as those they sell, even if the drinks were purchased elsewhere.
Smaller stores (under 200 m²) generally only need to accept containers from brands they sell.
You do not need to purchase anything to receive your deposit back.
Keep the barcode and deposit logo visible so the return machine can identify the container.
🧐 What About Glass Bottles That Are NOT Part of Pfand?
Glass bottles and jars without a deposit should NOT be placed in the regular household waste bins.
Instead, use the designated public glass recycling containers (Altglascontainer or Depotcontainer) located throughout Hamburg.
Glass must be separated by colour:
White: Clear glass bottles and jars.
Brown: Brown glass bottles and jars.
Green: Green glass and other colours, including blue, red, yellow and black glass.
⚠️ Important: Drinking glasses, ceramics, porcelain, mirrors and window glass do NOT belong in these containers.
Glass recycling containers can only be used Monday to Saturday, between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM, to avoid disturbing nearby residents.
👉 Find your nearest glass recycling container here:
🚽 Who Takes Care of Trash & Recycling?
✅ Members are responsible for correctly separating their waste and disposing of it in the appropriate containers.
⛔ Housekeepers will NOT re-sort incorrectly separated trash, which may result in bins not being taken out.
🚷 Trash Collection Rules
Housekeepers take out the trash only on designated cleaning days.
If the trash is full outside of those days, members must take it down to the courtyard waste containers themselves.
Housekeepers do NOT handle Pfand bottles. Members must return these bottles and cans themselves to receive their deposit back.
Housekeepers will NOT take care of overflowing trash bins, extra cleaning after parties, or heavy/unbagged trash.
❗ Important: These rules apply only to apartments with Regular Services.
Members living in non-serviced apartments are fully responsible for sorting and taking out their own trash.
For more information, visit 👉 Stadtreinigung Hamburg – Official Waste Disposal Services
🔎 Still need help? Contact LifeX Support via the app! 🛠️