Pfandsammeln (Germany)

Pfandsammeln 🇩🇪
Location: Germany
Definition: Collecting bottles and cans from bins and public places to redeem a refund payment
Keywords: Germany – EU – Europe – Employment – Poverty – Urban – Waste – Sustainability – Entrepreneurship – Triangle
Clusters: Informal entrepreneurship
Author: Annika Kurze
Affiliation: Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany

By Annika Kurze, Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany

Pfandsammeln, lit. collecting refunds, is a common practice in Germany and entails collecting empty and discarded bottles and cans public or semi-public spaces and returning them to the supermarkets for a refund (Duden 2020). People collecting empty drink packaging are called Pfandsammler. The practice of collecting used bottles and cans is not unique to Germany. Recycling of glass bottles, paper and metal were common in the economies of shortage in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (see budzenje and vrtičkarstvo). Under socialism, such practices were supported by the infrastructure and promoted through various reward schemes. Practices of waste-recycling, urban foraging or skipping remain operational in the developed markets today but are mainly associated with poverty, squatting, and the ethnic or migrant markets (Grigorichev and Koptseva 2020). In Germany, however, Pfandsammeln has become an unexpected side effect of the German regulation of packaging (Verpackungsverordnung) adopted in 2003. Depending on the kind of bottle, a deposit charge of between 8-25 EUR cents (depending on the type of packaging) is added to the price of the beverage and can be refunded upon returning them to a supermarket (Voigt 2007: 203). This legal constraint on producers encourages reuse or recycling. The monetary refund system is key for the practice of Pfandsammler.

The other important factor is the social custom, whereby people leave behind their bottles in public spaces, because they perceive returning them an inconvenience, or they leave them in the bin intentionally to benefit those with no income. It is widely held that Pfandsammler have no income and that they earn money by returning collected reusable or recyclable packaging. Although the regulation of packaging applies in all sixteen German federal states, Pfandsammeln is practiced much more commonly in urban areas due to a higher number of public spaces and higher level of poverty in the cities. The income of a bottle collector depends significantly on the number of visitors to a public space. Pfandsammler usually collect in city centres, public transport stations and during public events such as concerts or football games (Moser 2014: 1). Pfandsammler is associated with urban space and is part of the image Germans have of city centres.

There are no legal provisions in the German law to prohibit collecting refundable bottles discarded by others. However, in public services areas such as shopping malls and train stations, taking anything, including bottles and cans, out of the bins is not allowed (Langhof 2017). Landowners can claim that the contents of the bin belong to them and demand recognition of emptying them by the public as theft. Introduction of sub-federal regulations adopting this recognition is often in tune with a general perception of the Pfandsammler as a social outcast. Often paired with a rhetoric of order and social security in public spaces, such regulations reinforce social inequality by protecting ʻwell-behavedʼ citizens from an exposure to those forced to handle public waste. To what extent the regulations are enforced depends on the institution. Some of them choose to turn a blind eye on the practice as long as the collection is within manageable limits.

The stigma associated with the bottle collection, however, disregards the value of bottle collectors’ work as ecological duty, voluntary contribution, and good civic practice, since the citiy's streets are cleared of waste for free and glass gets recycled. The less bottles and cans refunded , the bigger the Pfandschlupf. Translated as ʻdeposit slipʼ, the term describes the profit retailers make due to fewer refund payments being redeemed than were charged for (Südwestrundfunk 2020). Without the informal work of Pfandsammler and their economical contribution to the German Refund System, this deposit slip would be higher.

Popular initiatives like Pfand gehört daneben (‘Refundables belong on the side’) recognises the role of Pfandsammler and calls for people to place their used refundable bottles and cans next to the bin instead of inside it so that collectors could easily take them (Pfand gehört daneben 2020). Innovative solutions emerged to equip bins with special bottle holders (ʻPfandringeʼ) so that consumers can easily separate their bottles from general waste (Paffendorf 2018). These campaigns underline the fact that Pfandsammeln is not only central to recycling in public spaces, but that communities and municipalities also have to start addressing the issue.

Both the public awareness and debates around the issues of Pfandsammler are on the rise. There is little scientific research on the topic, with notable exceptions. In a study from 2014, the researcher conducted interviews with Pfandsammler and suggested that the motives behind the practice of collecting refundable bottles were complex. Collecting recycling not only brought money but was a way of organising and structuring everyday routine, escaping loneliness and offering engagement in the wider social fabric (Moser 2014: 115). An analysis of environmental and social aspects of bottle collection based on a case study from Berlin addresses the tension between the ecological and social impact the regulation of packaging. While bottle collection contributes to the protection of resources, it also creates an informal economy. The Pfandsammler economy is influenced by several external factors. Physical disabilities and mental health issues are reasons that strengthen the hardship in finding a job. Unfair pension systems and migration contribute to the emergence of social and economic outcasts within a society and homelessness. The challenging living conditions may lead people to start to collect bottles and cans (Bellis 2020: 50).

Practices of collecting refundable bottles and cans emerge on the margins of work or land use. Collectors can spend long hours walking through cities, searching for bottles thrown into bins, scattered in parks or left along pavements in order to secure earnings. They are neither registered workers, nor regulated or supervised (Kainz 2004: 1) and earn money in an informal way, often similarly to work of street performers and musicians. However, Pfandsammler do not rely exclusively on the generosity of passers-by and can stay inconspicuous. They tend to work without disturbing users, although occasionally they wait for people to finish their drink and leave a bottle or can behind. Pfandsammler create a self-appointed task that offers them a daily structure, together with the monetary aspects.

Pfandsammeln is a case of a broader set of waste-related informal practices, as well as recycling strategies that the state offloads onto businesses and communities. Making money by refunding unreturned bottles and cans, without a recycling infrastructure provided by the state is a triangular social contract supported by social norms. The Pfandsammler is also an example of claiming a degree of freedom and the right to work informally, without status, assignment or function in a society, and regardless of whether such practices are stigmatised, tolerated or appreciated.

References

Duden. 2020. Flaschensammler, https://www.duden.de/node/48349/revision/48385

Kainz, Katharina. 2004. Der urbane informelle Arbeitsmarkt von Entwicklungsländern: diplom.de

Langhof, Julia. 2017. ʻRentnerin (76) sammelt Flaschen - Jetzt ist sie vorbestraftʼ, https://www.tz.de/muenchen/stadt/ludwigsvorstadt-isarvorstadt-ort43328/rentnerin-76-amhauptbahnhof-beim-flaschensammeln-erwischt-jetzt-ist-sie-vorbestraft-8697128.html

Moser, Sebastian J. 2014. Pfandsammler: Erkundung einer urbanen Sozialfigur. Hamburg: HIS Verlagsgesellschaft

Paffendorf, Fabian. 2018. ʼFlaschensammler müssen weiter im Müll wühlenʼ, https://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/nachrichten/flaschensammler-muessen-weiter-im-muell-wuehlen1256174.html

Pfand gehört daneben. 2020, https://www.pfand-gehoert-daneben.de/

Südwestrundfunk. 2020. ʻ1000 Antworten: Wer profitiert davon, wenn ich eine Pfandflasche nicht zum Händler zurückbringe?ʼ, https://www.swr.de/wissen/1000-antworten/umwelt-und-natur/1000-antworten-2660.html

Voigt R. 2007. ʻNichts für Flaschen — Verpackungshersteller gegen Einwegpfandʼ. In: Rieksmeier J. (eds), Praxisbuch: Politische Interessenvermittlung, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften