Yellow bin, blue bin, brown bin, Restmüll — getting recycling right matters. Wrong bins can bring fines and very disapproving neighbours.
Yellow (Gelber Sack): packaging with Grüner Punkt — plastic, cans, cartons. Blue (Papiertonne): paper, cardboard. Brown (Biotonne): food scraps, compostable material. Grey/black (Restmüll): everything else.
Food waste in the yellow bin (wrong — yellow is packaging only). Glass in the blue bin (wrong — Glascontainer at street level, sorted by colour). Batteries and medication never in household bins.
Glass bottles go to street-level containers sorted into Weißglas, Grünglas, Braunglas. No glass disposal between 10 PM and 7 AM, and never on Sundays — noise rules apply.
Wrong items in shared building bins result in a contamination surcharge for the whole building. Neighbours will notice — in Germany this is community responsibility, not personal business.
