Pfand is a German word which means Deposit. It was introduced by Germany’s Social Democrat/Green coalition government in 2003, Germany’s Pfand (deposit) system. Germany has an innovative technique of encouraging people to recycle bottles by charging them a small fee for their beverages, which is refunded if they opt to recycle.

How to check if a Bottle is Recyclable?

If you buy any cold beverages, water bottles, beer bottles, or cans made of glass, plastic, or aluminium, they will charge you a Pfand (Deposit), which is some additional cash charged for those bottles or cans that will be refunded if you place them inside a Pfand Machine (recycling machine). Simply check for the Pfand image on bottles or cans. You can also see how much Pfand is been charged. Pfand amount is different for glass bottles or aluminium cans or plastic bottles and may vary from brand to brand. For example, Pfand of 0.25 Euro is charged for almost all plastic bottles and aluminium cans but for glass bottles, the charge is only 0.15 Euro.

Where to find Pfand Machine?

Pfand machines can be seen at the entrance of each supermarket. Pfand machine colour and design varies depending on brand and supermarket. But they have similar operations everywhere, where you insert a bottle inside and you get a receipt. But not all Pfand machines accept glass bottles. They are only accepted in Big supermarkets like Rewe, Kaufland, Lidl and Edeka. Whereas, Pfand machines in small supermarkets like Aldi, Netto, and Penny will reject glass bottles. But you can submit those bottles and claim the money directly at the cash counter.

How to use Pfand Machine?

It’s simple, you simply place the bottles into the machine, which will scan the code on the bottle and provides you with a receipt for the total price. If you buy a whole cart which has extra Pfand money around 5 Euro which can be directly inserted from the bottom part of the machine with bottles inside the cart. The machine will scan all bottles from the cart as well as it will scan for the cart at the same time.

The machine has a time setting so it will wait for a specific time interval assuming you still want to insert more bottles and once that time interval is over it will print a receipt for you. Also, as you can see there is a green button available on the machine, so if you are done with all bottles you can press that button instead of waiting for a machine to complete the time cycle. Once you press that button it will print the receipt and you can collect it. You have to submit that receipt and reclaim your money at the cash counter.

Concluding Statement

Whenever you buy any bottles or cans always check if they have Pfand printed on them or not. Mostly Milk bottles and Juice bottles don’t have Pfand they are just to use and throw. Also, it’s important that whenever you return the bottle that scan code should be available on the bottle, if the code is erased by you then you will not get Pfand back. If you are travelling and don’t want to carry bottles then always keep bottles beside any nearby dustbin so someone will recycle those.