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LIVING IN GERMANY

Pfand: How Germany plans to expand its bottle deposit scheme in 2024

From next year, a Pfand - or deposit - will be introduced to more products under plans to extend the deposit scheme. Here's what we know so far.

Deposit machines German supermarket
A customer returns bottles to a deposit machine in a German supermarket. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Monika Skolimowska

What’s happening?

Germany’s Flaschenpfand (bottle deposit, known as Pfand), is a hugely popular recycling initiative in Germany, which involves consumers paying around 25 cents extra on bottles which they can then return and receive a refund. Some other products – such as glass bottles – have a smaller deposit, but the system works in the same way.  

People often head to the supermarket with a bag – or even trolley – packed full of cans and bottles to recycle. They then receive a receipt which they can take to the cashier to get the money directly back, or off their next shopping bill. 

It’s been running for 20 years and is credited for keeping streets tidier and helping to boost recycling, something Germans take very seriously. 

READ ALSO: German word of the day – Pfand

What’s changing?

For several years, the deposit scheme only applied to mineral water, beer and soft drinks in cans and PET plastic bottles.

Since last year, however, a stricter regulation has been in effect. Customers now also have to pay a deposit on alcoholic mixed drinks, lemonades and fruit juices.

From next year, the deposit scheme will be extended even further.

In 2024, the new regulation will apply to almost all drinks from the refrigerated shelves. Customers will have to pay 25 cents more on milk, mixed milk beverages and drinkable milk products offered in one-way plastic beverage bottles.

If drinks are part of the scheme, they will carry the ‘Pfand’ logo. The aim is that supermarkets and discounters will stop selling drinks in non-returnable bottles or cans without a deposit.

“According to the German Packaging Act (VerpackG), these beverages become subject to the mandatory deposit and thus integrated into the DPG return and deposit system,” said the German Deposit System (DPG) in a statement.

Which drinks will be subject to a new deposit from 2024?

Primarily, this concerns drinking milk products (for example Müller milk), fresh milk and iced coffee-style drinks such as Starbucks DoubleShot or Nescafé Ready-To-Drink. If manufacturers and retailers sell these products in plastic bottles, they will cost 25 cents more from January 1st.

For example, if fresh milk costs €1.79 in December, you’ll have to pay €2.04 a month later. The 25 cents will then be refunded when the bottle is returned.

Some brands - such as Granini - are already adding the deposit label this year.

A juice bottle with the deposit label in 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Eckes-Granini Group GmbH | Eckes-Granini Group GmbH

However, it is still unclear how the deposit can be returned to people for these products. This is because there are often hygiene risks with dairy products. In addition to mould, unpleasant odours could also develop in the vending machines.

It is possible that customers will be asked to empty the packaging and rinse it with tap water before returning it. However, it is unclear whether all consumers would comply with this. 

What’s the reaction?

It’s mixed. Currently plastic milk containers are meant to be placed in the yellow plastics bin and picked up by local authorities, meaning they are also recycled outside of the deposit system. 

“Plastic milk bottles belong in the yellow bin and not in the return machines,” Eckhard Heuser, Chief Executive of the Dairy Industry Association, has said, reported Focus Online. 

The German Trade Association says that it is worried about leftover dairy residue affecting the recycling system if the items are mixed into the deposit machines. 

Why is the government doing this?

The changes by the Federal Ministry for the Environment are part of a larger package of measures from the European Union to prevent waste. In Germany, all of the changes are to take effect in several stages by 2030.

As well as the deposit on all beverage bottles and cans, measures also include a quota for reusable and disposable products in supermarkets.

“The one-way deposit system, which is implemented nationwide by DPG Deutsche Pfandsystem GmbH and its network of system participants and partners, is thus once again contributing to the Europe-wide objective of reusing valuable raw materials,” said the DPG. 

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For members

INSIDE GERMANY

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish ‘Mannschaft’

From what we can expect from voters at the European elections to what citizenship means to foreign residents and the Scottish take on the German word 'Mannschaft', here are a few things we're talking about this week.

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish 'Mannschaft'

Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

What can we expect as Germany goes to the polls for Europe?

On Sunday, EU citizens living in Germany will cast their vote to elect a new European parliament. 

A lot has changed since the last elections were held back in 2019 – the UK has since left the EU (meaning no Brits in Europe can vote unless they have an EU citizenship), we’ve experienced a worldwide pandemic and war has broken out in Europe. 

The big story of 2019 from Germany was the Green surge. 

Although the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) received the largest share of votes (28.7 percent), the Greens won more than 20 percent of the vote in Germany, increasing by about 10 percent from 2014.

Support for the conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) dropped considerably. 

So what can we expect from voters in Germany this time? 

According to recent polls, the conservatives are likely to secure a victory on the German side of things. The CDU and CSU will scoop up around 30 percent of the vote, according to surveys.

poster urging people to vote

A giant poster announcing the upcoming European elections, on the facade of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD, on the other hand, is only polling between 14 and 16 percent. 

The poll figures for the Greens have fluctuated. The INSA institute reported in April that the Greens could receive 11.5 percent of the vote. But recent polls show the party receiving between 13 and 15 percent – a significant drop from 2019. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has also lost support. While pollsters INSA predicted the party would take 22 percent of the vote back in February, recent polls put them on 14 to 17 percent.

Meanwhile, the Free Democrats (FDP), currently in government with the SPD and Greens, have been hovering between just three and five percent in polls since the beginning of the year.

Aside from these well-known parties, there are also a number of smaller ones.

If you’re eligible to vote, who will you be choosing? Good luck at the ballot box and make sure to check The Local’s coverage as the results come in. 

READ ALSO:

Germany in Focus podcast

After devastating floods in Germany that have claimed lives and cause huge destruction, we talk about how communities are coping and the areas most at risk of flooding on this week’s podcast. We also get into predictions for the European parliamentary elections and answer a reader question on how much you need to earn to qualify for German citizenship, 

With the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament coming up on June 14th, we share some interesting facts about the stadiums involved and talk about the importance of football culture in Germany with guest Kit Holden. 

What does German citizenship mean to foreign residents in Germany?

With the new citizenship law coming into force later this month, we asked The Local readers to share their feelings about citizenship and the process in a questionnaire. More than 100 people filled out our survey in just a few days and were delighted to hear about the different experiences. 

In the first of our articles, we looked at what securing a German passport means to residents. 

Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent intend to apply for citizenship, while 12 percent are still unsure. 

About six percent said they will not apply, and a few respondents had already naturalised. 

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

For many people, a huge benefit of citizenship is about gaining freedom of movement. 

“Free movement with the world’s strongest passport is the main goal here,” Khandakar Rahman from Bangladesh, told us. 

Others mentioned that they would feel more integrated – and have course receive full rights to voting. 

Kristian from Norway said the would “finally be an EU citizen, to be able to vote, and also to actually be German”.

READ MORE: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

The Scottish ‘Mannschaft’ set to take on Germany 

As Germany is about to take on Scotland in the opener for UEFA Euro 2024, ad executives for the Scottish soft drink Irn Bru have outdone themselves. 

They’ve launched an advert playing around with the nickname for Germany’s national football – ‘Die Mannschaft’ 

READ MORE: German word of the day – Mannschaft 

I was keen to know what Germans felt about this advert featuring a guy in a kilt talking about how Scotland’s ‘Mannschaft’ may even reach the semis. 

While many Germans thought it was funny, a few pointed out that the advert technically doesn’t use the word correctly. 

One thing for sure is that the Scottish love it. 

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