Die Mülltrennung in Deutschland - Waste separation in Germany

Hello Expats! 

We hope you are enjoying your summer in Germany so far, taking German courses, learning German and experiencing the German culture.
Today, we want to talk about “Mülltrennung”.  Do you already have experience with separating your household rubbish?  It can be a bit overwhelming to start, but as is with so many things, “Übung macht den Meister”.  You will have three coloured bins at your home; black, blue, and brown. What are the colours about and what is a “Wertstoffinsel” and a “Wertstoffsammelstelle/Wertstoffhof”?

“Die schwarze Tonne”: Residual waste or unusable waste includes everything that is left over. Remnants of fabrics, hygiene items, pens or erasers.  Vacuum cleaner bags and ashes also belong in this bin. This waste is mostly burned in waste incineration plants, because landfills represent environmental pollution.  Electronics such as old devices and batteries do not belong in the black bin.  These should be taken to your local “Wertstoffhof”.

“Die blaue Tonne”: This is for clean waste paper, cardboard and packaging material made of paper.  Dirty pizza boxes (if only paper), paper for personal hygiene and kitchen roll paper go into the blue bin.  Fun fact: envelopes with windows can still be disposed of in the blue bin.  The various components are separated so that the plastic windows can be easily separated from the paper.

„Die Biotonne“:  This brown bin is for organic waste.  It is best to collect without a bag and put newspaper in the bottom of the bin.  The organic waste bin is suitable for all compostable waste, which mainly includes organic material. Waste from the garden can also be disposed of in the bin.  Most of this waste ends up in composting plants and rots there under great heat.  As far as we know, the City of Munich actually sells compost produced from the “Bio-Tonne”.

You will have to take your glass, plastics, and metals to special “Wertstoffinsel”, dotted around your neighbourhood (yellow).  All disposable bottles, preserving jars, mason jars and other containers made of glass go in the “Glascontainer”.  There are separate containers for clear, brown, and green glass. Coffee pots or fireproof glass and mirrors do not belong in it (go to the “Wertstoffhof”). 

“Der Wertstoffhof”: The Munich recycling centres of the AWM are spread over the entire city area and really help to keep Munich a clean and sustainable city. The refuse is sorted in large containers by cardboard, plastic, metal, wood, cable, cork, paper and electronic devices. The recycling centres are usually open on working days.  Go and have a look, it’s amazing just how much waste can be recycled! 

Many of you will be familiar with the Allianz Arena. The “Fröttmaninger Berg” is directly opposite it on the Nuremberg motorway (A9). It is a lovely recreation area on a 75-metre-high former landfill!  You would never know by looking at the beautiful green hill!
Do you have any questions regarding waste separation and recycling? Do you need help? Leave a comment below or meet up with us for chat regarding learning the German language and culture.

Today’s vocabulary:

die Mülltrennung – waste separation
Übung macht den Meister – practice makes perfect
die Übung (die Übungen) - practice
der Meister (die Meister) - master
der Wertstoffhof (die Wertstoffhöfe) - the refuse centre
die Verpackung (die Verpackungen) – the packaging
das Papier (die Papiere) – the paper
der Bio-Müll /der Kompost – the organic waste / the compost
der Restmüll – the residual waste
der Glascontainer – the glass container
die Wertstoffinsel – the recycling island
der Berg (die Berge) – the mountain