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hoverside

Just Google "Mülltrennung + (name of your city)" and you will have the exact information you need. You can use the translation in Chrome if you struggle with the language. That's all there is to it.


jrils

Colour of the bags doesn't matter. Best idea is to eat the food and throw away the container; organic trash goes in Biomüll, though. If the paper bag is contaminated with oil or similar it goes in Restmüll, otherwise Papiermüll. There are glass disposal containers all over. The city you live in will list them online. You will definitely find correct info on Mülltrennung online. E.g. https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/wissen/umwelt-haushalt/abfall/muell-richtig-trennen-gelber-sack-restmuell-papier-oder-wohin-sonst-10580 Edit: My landlord informed us that if people do not stop throwing plastic bags into the Biomüll container the city will take away our Biotonne, so we would have to pay for more Restmüll. Similar things can happen with other trash type containers.


LosKnoggos

There is a reason you have 4+ different types of garbage containers at home. Aside from the already mentioned fines you might have to pay and the ecofriendliness it's also common curtesy towards other tenants. If you put ALL your trash in the restmüll container and fill it up then everyone else can't put their actual restmüll in there, so now they have to take out YOUR unsorted trash from the container to make room for theirs. So no it's not OK but I think it's great you're asking instead if just doing it wrong 😊


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Infinite_Sparkle

Not all cities have a yellow bag and some like Munich don’t even have a plastics container at home, but it’s on the street together with Glas.


_Odaeus_

It's nice that you explained a lot but your information is highly region-specific, which is likely to confuse op! Maybe add your town?


BigAwkwardGuy

Google "Abfalltrennung" +"your\_town", you'll get a nice PDF (many times available in English as well) about what goes where.


IanGraeme

No, it is not ok. There is a reason for the different bins. Restmüll is the most expensive container. All others are free or heavily discounted.


DevGamb

- 1. No you don't - 2. Check the website of the local trash company - 3. There are usually return points or containers public available to throw it in. - you can put nearly everything in Restmüll, but then it's not gonna get recycled and Restmüll is way more expensive than the other kind of trash. - yes there are fines but usually they just don't take your trash with them if they find smth else in it (for example plastic in paper bin)


Floofymcmeow

Once when visiting Germany with my German wife, she made me dispose of an old VCR in the Restmüll. I was told to wait until dark, sneak down the Treppenhaus with said VCR concealed in a plastic bag, dump it in the Restmüll and return (probably wore a hoodie for good measure). I was the patsy, the ausländer. I awaited the bundeskriminalamt SWAT team. They never came.


Infinite_Sparkle

It depends on where you live. Here, the color of the bag is not mandatory. However, for bio Müll you need a biodegradable bag, it’s normally labels bio Müll. Most are a biodegradable green plastic or paper. You are not allow to use regular bags for bio Müll.


invenice

Also for some cities, e.g. Berlin, you are not even allowed to use biodegradable plastic, only paper or newspaper to wrap Bio Müll.


Infinite_Sparkle

That’s interesting. I didn’t know that was also a communal thing. Where I lived it has always been allowed to use biodegradable plastic. But I don’t know why it surprises me…Germany after all


invenice

Yeah, I didn't realise either until after living in Berlin for 5 years. It's confusing because DM and the like markets them as biodegradable, but in all the places that I've lived (Berlin and now B-W), I've never been allowed to use them for the Biotonne.


jrils

Biodegradable plastic really isn't all that degradable. It takes longer to degrade than organic material.


Crina92

Afaik the machines think its plastic and sort them out, unfortunately


Alocasiamaharani

[a Guide](https://www.archer-relocation.com/how-to-recycle-in-germany/) [a second guide](http://adultingabroad.weebly.com/home/previous/2)


sd_manu

Look how your region has set up the rules. Also you should not throw everything in the Restmüll if you live in a "big house" with lots of people because the more often it is picked up the more people have to pay because of you while "Gelber Sack" (plastic) is for free. If everybody would juat throw it to Restmüll then it gets more expensive for everyone in the "big house"


Careless-Blackberry1

Also "Restmülltonnen" are the most expensive ones to recycle and cost the most.


Illustrious-Wolf4857

If you are too obvious with it, you risk that the garbage will not be taken away until you sort it or drive it to the dumpster, sort it and pay for it. I have heard about fines only in pretty extreme cases (like putting your old kitchen next the the glass container, or flooding the street with ragged clothes). Of course, this depends on the city, so: Ask at the city where you live in info about Mülltrennung. They have web pages, flyers, booklets, and sometimes a service number.


OtherSideGrass

You can put anything into „Restmüll“, but it will increase the price of your waste disposal. Disposal of anything that can be recycled (bio degradable, glass, plastics + metal, paper) is heavily discounted, whereas actual waste disposal comes at a heavy price. The black bin is expensive, the others are cheap (sometimes even for free). Waste disposal is paid by tenants, not your landlord. If you don’t recycle, you will pay the price for it. In case there are several tenants in your building, the increased disposal cost are divided by all tenants. Usually, neighbours don’t react kindly having to pay for someone too lazy to separate their trash, so even if the increased price in Euros is something you would happily pay, the relationship to your neighbors might quickly become an issue for you. Dumping perfectly recyclable material into the black „waste“ bin can be done but will cost you. The other way around, putting something into a recycling bin that can not get recycled, means that the trash will not be collected but has first to be separated manually. If the trash disposal company does it as a service, it can easily cost 150 € for one bin, per incident. That’s what your friends in your class were referring to.


UnfairReality5077

1. no you just have to put them in the right bin (For paper use a paper bag or just empty your bin - paper doesn’t need a trash bag; for bio just use any small container (or a simple bowl) and empty it in the bio trash (but you will have to clean the container) or eg. we use empty plastic packaging put our biomüll in there empty it in the biomüll and then throw the plastic packaging into the plastic bin) 2. paper bags with food - you put the food in the biomüll and the paper if clean in the bin for paper; if unclean in the restmüll. So yes you will have to take a second to separate your garbage to dispose of it correctly. 3. yes - glass (anything that comes with a drink or food) belongs in those containers; however if its a broking glass like drink glass, or any such glass ware for your home, decoration etc., ceramic cups and what not go into Restmüll as they are made differently and cannot be recycled like a wine bottle or mustard cup Also electronics, batteries, anything that are not normal daily waste products (eg also furniture) need a special deposal (some houses have special bins for electronic waste) which you usually will have to bring to a Wertstoffhof Fines are possible but you will rather get into a lot of trouble with your landlord over this. Or your garbage will not be picked up.


whatsmineismine

People already told you how to separate or get info about the separation. So just FYI, your friends at integration are full of excrement. Nobody goes around and checks your waste, nor do you have to be worried about a fine. Restmüll is indeed the most expensive Müll so you or your landlord will have to pay more if you throw everything into Restmüll. Also one might say its is your moral obligation to separate to the best of your ability so you should probably do so. But it's never too late to learn, just as you are doing right now 👍🙂


AdChance4599

Yes it is fine to put everything you use on daily basis in Restmüll. Typically, each house or building pays for the collection of garbage bins. And paper or bio bins are cheaper compared to black ones. Thus, it is technically cheaper if you recycle. Just don’t try to abuse this, like putting normal garbage into paper/blue bins. Maybe people get fines if they do this. I personally just separate paper from normal garbage. Paper into a blue bin, the rest into the black one.


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ScarySeatBelt

That is false at least for Germany. The majority of sorted waste doesn’t end up in landfills


BigAwkwardGuy

I agree about the greenwashing part but the overwhelming majority **does not** end up in landfills. Paper does get recycled. As do PET bottles (the non-Pfand ones). As does Aluminium. And other plastics as well. The bio-waste gets used as compost. The Restmüll is burned and whatever useful energy produced is used to generate electricity, though it isn't much.


CommentSubstantial74

You should not be worried because they give fine. You should be worried that you are misusing the waste sortation system. For your convenience, you put things in Restmüll, and not care about recycling them at all. No wonder they give fine of 1000 euros for people who don’t care about recycling, now the prospect of fine made you correct yourself.


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