Five Types of Trash?
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What happens to the trash in your house? You probably throw it into a trash can. Maybe you sort out recyclable materials. This is good for the environment, because it means that some trash can be reused for new products.
But in Germany, people often have five different waste bins in their homes. Why do they need so many?
To start, German households typically have three different recycling bins. One is for paper and cardboard. The next one is for plastic and metal. The third is for glass. There are often even separate bins depending on the glass’s color. Green glass gets one bin, clear glass gets another, and so on.
In addition, Germans are required to compost. This means that kitchen and yard waste goes into its own bin to become new soil. The soil is then used on farms all over Germany.
Finally, there is a trash can for any leftovers. Some things can’t be recycled or composted, so they become normal trash. Only about one third of Germany’s trash ends up this way. The rest is all reused. As a result, Germany has the highest recycling rate in the world.