Jamie McDine's Englishman's guide to what makes Germany different

Part E: The recycling habit

Pfand

You will see that the cities of Germany are kept very tidy and there are very rarely any empty bottles left on the street.  That is not only because the people are very environmentally conscious, but also because of the 'Pfand' or deposit payable on most bottles and cans.

Get your deposit back!

The Pfand is basically an extra cost you pay for each bottle you buy, which is then redeemed when you take the empty bottle back to the store - helps to encourage all of us to recycle and keep the streets clean.  Expect a similar deal on re-usable plastic beer glasses at the games. 

Up to 25 cents extra per bottle
Pfand will be added to the price of almost every bottle of beer, cola and mineral water you will buy, so pay attention to the prices, as this will add usually between 8 and 25 cents per bottle to the cost.

However, food and drink in Germany is usually around 30% cheaper than in England, so if you are used to paying £1 for an item it will generally be around 1 euro over here.

Plastic bags

Have you ever been to the check-out and noticed you forgot to bring your old carrier bags with you?  Oh well, just pick up some new ones and fill those up. Not in Germany! 

In German supermarkets, shoppers are encouraged to re-use their plastic bags much more so than us Brits - and you have to pay for new ones! They are generally only 5 or 10 cents per bag, but by charging for them the supermarkets are trying to make sure you only take as many as you need and hope that you’ll use them again.

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