Fanny Sue Wolke
A friend from Austria once asked me why I had a basket with empty bottles and jars in my kitchen. She was also surprised when I brought that basket with me to grocery shopping. On the way to the grocery store I explained my actions to her. She was very surprized although it is a great and simple system. In Germany we have a pledge-system. For most bottles and also some jars you have to pay a pledge. That can be 15 to 25 cents. The pledge is not included on the price labels, but there is often written "zuzügl. Pfand", what means that you have to pay a pledge. It is also written on the bottles and jars. After using the bottles, you bring them back to the store and put them into the "pfandautomat". This automat you will usually find near the entrance. It scans the barcodes of the bottles and counts the pledges. When you push the End-button it releases a receipt. You can either buy something from the receipt or change it on the checkout into money. There are two different kinds of pledges. One is on almost all bottles, exept liquor. It is called "Einwegpfand". You bring the bottle back and it is then crushed by the automat and later disposed by the store. Only plastic bottles and aluminium cans can have this kind of pledge. Bottles made of thicker and harder plastic or glas jars and bottles have a different pledge. These containers are "Mehrwegpfand". You bring them back and they are cleaned and used again. The store can reuse the containers between 20 and 100 times, depending on content and material of the container. You can bring most bottles back to many different stores. Only if you buy something, what is special to one certain store you probably have to bring it back to that one store. Part 1
Feb 21, 2021 12:06 PM
Corrections · 1
A friend from Austria once asked me why I had a basket with empty bottles and jars in my kitchen. She was also surprised when I brought that basket with me to go grocery shopping. On the way to the grocery store I explained my actions to her. She was very surprized although it is a great and simple system. In Germany we have a pledge-system. For most bottles and also for some jars you have to pay a pledge. That can be 15 to 25 cents. The pledge is not included on the price labels, but there is often written "zuzügl. Pfand", which means that you have to pay a pledge. It is also written on the bottles and jars. After using the bottles, you bring them back to the store and put them into the "pfandautomat". This machine can usually be found near the entrance. It scans the barcodes of the bottles and counts the pledges. When you push the End-button it gives a receipt. You can either buy something from the receipt or change it at checkout into money. There are two different kinds of pledges. One is on almost all bottles, exept liquor. It is called "Einwegpfand". You bring the bottle back and it is then crushed by the automat and later disposed by the store. Only plastic bottles and aluminium cans can have this kind of pledge. Bottles made of thicker and harder plastic or glass jars and bottles have a different pledge. These containers are "Mehrwegpfand". You bring them back and they are cleaned and used again. The store can reuse the containers between 20 and 100 times, depending on the content and material of the container. You can bring most bottles back to many different stores. If you buy something that is special to one certain store you would probably have to bring it back to that store. Part 1
You write well in English :) In Canada, we would say "deposit" rather than "pledge". Where I live, it is only for liquor and beer bottles though.
February 21, 2021
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