The Country With The Best Recycling System
The best recycling countries include Germany, Austria, South Korea, and Wales. Germany has the highest recycling rate in the world, recycling an impressive 66.1% of its waste. Austria is also one of the best countries in the world for waste being recycled, reaching a recycling rate of 54%. But the question is, how has the country with the best recycling system achieved this success?
Why Does Germany Have The Best Recycling System?
1. The Green Dot System
Germany has achieved the top country on the list with strict government rules. These includes recycling schemes for manufacturers and distributors. If customers see a Green Dot on packaging, they know that the manufacturer has contributed to the cost of recycling it. Companies pay a licence fee to join this scheme. For commercial and domestic goods, rules state that they are responsible for ensuring packaging is either returned or recycled.
2. Public Awareness
As a country the public is also made very aware and is passionate about the amount of waste sent to landfills. The German recycling system uses six different bins for recycling points, classified according to a colour. The yellow is for plastics, the blue for paper and cardboard, the white for clear glass, the brown for colored glass, the green for green glass, and a sixth bin for food waste and organic matter. Having a variety of bins for solid waste means segregation is successful and recycling can be effective when sent to recycling plants.
3. The Deposit Refund Scheme
Another scheme created to reduce their carbon emission rate and boost recycling rates is the deposit refund scheme. This process involves plastic bottles or glass being labelled that can be recycled. When purchased, buyers pay a deposit. The fee is then returned once the empty bottle is returned to the retail store. This means the scheme encourages the public to not throw away products and return them for re-use or recycling. Germany has reached a staggering 98.4% return rate since the adoption of the scheme.
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