The most convenient way to more climate protection
The initiative for proper separation of residual waste and packaging
The goal of the nationwide initiative “Mülltrennung wirkt” of the dual schemes is to clean up mistakes and motivate as many people as possible to participate. After all, with the proper sorting of residual waste and packaging, everyone can actively contribute to climate protection.
The amount of residual waste in the yellow bag and the yellow bin is still too high. This makes it difficult to recycle valuable raw materials – or prevent them completely. Conversely, too many recyclables end up in residual waste and are lost forever.
Important: Only packaging that is disposed of properly enters the recyclable material loop.
In total, we consume around 60 percent more resources per year than the earth can renew in the same period. The recovery of recyclables from packaging waste helps conserve resources.
By recycling packaging, we save more than 1.95 million tonnes of CO2 annually in Germany alone!
The dual schemes in Germany make an important contribution to resource and climate protection with the collection and recycling of packaging.
For this to work, we need you. Learn about this and properly sort packaging and residual waste!
How to sort properly
The 5 most important rules for waste sorting
Protecting the environment can be so easy. Observe the following five sorting rules:
- Throw any packaging that does not contain glass, paper, carton board or cardboard into the yellow bag/yellow container.
- Dispose of packaging containing paper, carton or cardboard in the waste paper container.
- Sort glass packaging by colour and use the respective containers for used glass. If you cannot assign a colour to glass, throw it into the green glass container.
- Separate the packaging components. Example: remove the lid from yogurt containers or the caps from the tubes of mustard or tomato paste.
- Make sure the packaging is empty before disposing of it. Because materials can only be sorted if they are not too heavily contaminated. Quick rinses are sufficient – you do not have to scrub the jars.
If you are unsure, you can find all the information on our sorting tables available for self-printing:
Make it easier for consumers
The Trennhinweis e. V. association offers manufacturers free instructions and advice for their packaging
According to a survey*, 80 percent of consumers want uniform waste sorting instructions on packaging. The dual schemes founded the Trennhinweis e. V. association in order to comply with this request.
On www.trenn-hinweis.de, manufacturers receive free sorting instructions in flexible design variants. You can put them on your packaging.
The instructions show how to dispose of the packaging.
All distributors registered with the Central Agency Packaging Registry (ZSVR) can use the free sorting instructions.
* YouGov survey on behalf of Trennhinweis e. V.
Circular economy is climate protection
The dual schemes collect around 6.2 million tonnes of packaging waste in Germany every year. Various raw materials are used in the production of packaging. To ensure that these are not lost after use, the dual schemes recycle the waste.
The principle of the circular economy is about keeping raw materials in circulation, especially through reuse and the recycling of materials.
The ideal state is a closed loop in which the materials are fully utilised. This means that we do not dispose of waste, but collect, sort, recycle and reuse it. Specialised and certified companies treat the waste using state-of-the-art and efficient machines.
In the recycling loops, you can see which raw materials are recycled and how and where recycled materials can be recovered.
