The very first time I heard about the Pfand system was when I spent an extended summer in Berlin, Germany. Some other student I was with told me about a system to return bottles and receive a deposit back. While sometimes, we would return them ourselves, we would also purposely leave empty bottles out at parks for others to pick up and get the return deposit. This would typically be homeless who could return the bottles in exchange for money in grocery stores to purchase food and other essentials.

The German Pfand system is something that I am surprised more grocery stores have yet to adopt. Essentially, it works by attaching a bottle deposit price when customers purchase glass or plastic bottles. When the bottle is empty, customers return the bottle and receive their deposit back. Many grocery stores have a depository bin or can be returned to the cashier. In Germany, this can be up to $0.29 for bottles that can be re-used like glass and PET plastic bottles, which is set by the producer, or a set $0.29 by the government for single use bottles. When returned, the re-usable bottles are sent to their wholesaler warehouse to be sanitized and then refilled. The single use bottles are shredded, melted, and the turned into new plastic bottles or other materials. This system continues on and on to reduce the amount of plastic produced.

The Pfand system began in Germany where they have seen a bottle return rate as high as 98%. This means less raw materials, less energy, and less carbon emissions, all just by encouraging bottle returns. Traditional recycling is not as effective as the bottle recycling system because bottle are mixed with other recycling and get contaminated by other food products. The Pfand system is for bottles and only bottles, preventing the issues caused by traditional recycling programs.

Ideally, this system seems pretty straight forward to replicate. However, it requires a whole new system in factories to pick up, clean, and refill bottles. Replicating this in a country who consumers more, moves more, and is much larger could prove to be difficult. Beginning simply in cities with smaller grocery stores and a denser population may be the key to creating this system in the U.S.

However, it is not unlikely that the U.S could successfully replicate the system. With a growing amount of conscious consumers, stores are forced into more sustainable practices like reusable or paper bags instead of plastic bags. If the Pfand system begins in cities where trends grow, it has the chance to grow into a new sustainable movement in grocery stores.

Bibliography

Ruiz, I. B., & Cwienk, J. (2021, November 24). A look at Germany’s bottle deposit scheme – DW – 11/17/2021. dw.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023, from https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-germanys-bottle-deposit-scheme-work/a-50923039