The "Pfand" in Germany or levy, recycling plastic bottles, cans, glass

Of the very first things that called my attention in Germany was how clean the country is. After some days later, I began to understand all the efforts and work behind this. One German I know, told me that Germany is clean because of the rain. I assumed that he meant that the water of the rain took all the dirt, plastics, papers and cigarette butts... somewhere under the earth.

But no. Not at all. When you go shopping, you start to understand. First of all, at the supermarket, you pay when you want plastic bags. Around 10 cents of euro per bag. That's why you will see many Germans with cloth bags, for carrying stuff from the supermarket home. Then you have the "Pfand" or levy.

For every drink in a plastic bottle you buy (that is: water, soft drinks, all sorts of juice, etc) you have to pay an small amount of pfand or levy for it. Can be from 5 cents of euro up to 25 cents. This applies as well for glass, and canned drinks: as in beer or soft drinks. Once you give back this plastic bottles and/or glass bottles or cans, you get your money back.

In the first picture above, we have a can and 2 plastic bottles. What do they have in common? A little icon meaning you must pay Pfand, and that when returned you get the money back. In the second picture you get a closer look at the icon I mean.

Now, be careful. Normally in each supermarket there is a machine (I will post a photo of it another day) where you can give these back. But in theaters, cinemas or restaurants, it works different. You have to ask how does it work with the "Pfand". In some places they charge you the pfand and when you give back the bottle they give you back the money. If some other places they just don't give you back anything.

Additionally, the pfand can be 5 cents or 25 cents. In some bottles you can see how much money you will pay, and you will get back later. You can see an example in the bottle of water above. The pfand is 25 cents of Euro.

I am sure this "Pfand", has a huge effect on the people. When you see the queue in these machines, you can only believe it works. On the other hand, sometimes you will see people looking for plastic bottles, cans and glasses in the trash cans on the street, to get some euros. Is not such a good feeling, as must of them are homeless or drunks looking for easy money to buy more alcohol.

As for you, as you can see in the picture above, you might end up with a dozen plastic bottles and cans at home, waiting to be brought back to the supermarket. But better that than polluting a river or the ocean.