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We all have garbage, we all make waste, and it’s extremely important that when arriving in the city of Düsseldorf, you know all there is to know about the garbage rules and schedules. Why? Well, because it’s up to us to help keep the city clean and beautiful.
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Where do you find the garbage schedule for your apartment?
The garbage schedules vary depending on where you live in Düsseldorf. In order to figure out the garbage dates for your apartment, you will need to check the AWISTA website. From here, you can click on “Abfuhrtermine“.
You will then be prompted to enter your street name and then select your house number from a dropdown menu. From here, you have the option to view your schedule for the week, for the month, or for the year.
The Garbage Cans – Color Codes
BLACK/GREEN: Household Waste
Your household waste bin is typically black or dark green and can vary in size. Garbage that gets put into the household waste bin includes textiles, personal hygiene items, diapers, cigarette butts, etc.
YELLOW: Plastics
Plastics are usually disposed of in your apartment garbage and the bins in Düsseldorf are typically yellow. Surprisingly, ‘plastics’ doesn’t just mean plastics… you can dispose of aluminum, tin cans, milk cartons, spray cans, plastic wrap, and any plastics with a green dot.
BLUE: Paper & Recycling
Depending on where you live will depend on whether or not your apartment has paper and recycling bins. If your apartment does not have a blue bin, there are a number of ‘Altpapier’ /paper recycling bins around the city within walking distance of your home. Be sure to flatten all boxes before putting them in the bin, otherwise, the city becomes a disaster.
BROWN: Compost/Organic Waste
Not all households offer an organic waste bin, but it’s a nice thing to have (feel free to request that your landlord order one). The organic waste bins are typically brown and are for disposal of the organic garden matter, leftover food, coffee filters, and tea bags.
Where to put your bottles and cans / What is Pfand?
You can return these bottles to get your deposit back at any local grocer (though best to return it where you purchased it as some don’t accept bottles that weren’t purchased at their store location).
What is Pfand?
Pfand is a deposit system of 25 cents that Germany places on each plastic bottle and can. There is often 8 cents deposit on beer bottles and mineral waters too.
Where do you dispose of glass without Pfand/a deposit?
If there is no Pfand on the glass bottles you have in your own (often including wine bottles, sauce jars, etc.), then you will need to dispose of them at one of the glass recycling bins in the city. You can find these recycling bins all over the city and you can use this interactive map from the city of Düsseldorf to find one close to your home.
When is “Big Garbage Day”?
Where I’m from, we call it big garbage day, and it’s the day I used to love most as a child – collecting other people’s garbage and turning it into my treasure! Big garbage day is also known as “Spermüll” in German.
On Sperrmüll days, you can dispose of larger household items like:
- Furniture
- Appliances
- Old wood
Be aware that whatever is not considered to be “Sperrmüll” will not be picked up, so it is your responsibility to take after your garbage.
You can check your street dates on the AWISTA Spermüll website. There you will be asked to specify what you plan on putting out on the curb (big garbage – furniture, old wood or appliances, and/or electronics). You can then enter your address and search for the next available big pickup.
The following page will bring you to a registration page where you which includes your details and what you intend on getting rid of (they have a maximum allowance of bikes and fridges).
Where do you get rid of old clothing?
There are numerous places around the city where you can get rid of your old clothing. You can donate your clothes to charity shops like:
- Fairhaus
- Caritas
- Profamilia
- Oxfam
Check out our blog post on Donating Your Used Goods in Düsseldorf for more stores and more information.
If your clothes are ripped and overworn, you can dispose of your old clothes in any Altkleider bin around the city often managed by Awista.
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This article is super useful. Do you also know where people can dispose of excess garbage that is too big for normal bin collection in Düsseldorf? We are moving house and have a lot of organic waste (from old plants etc) that we need to get rid of (in the UK we would take them to a tip)…
Hey there Jane, Yes! You can register for “big garbage day” as we call it in Canada, haha. In Germany it’s called “Spermüll”. You can register here: https://www.awista.de/privathaushalte/sperrmuell/anmeldung/
You can also just load up the truck and take the excess garbage to the a Recyclinghöfe: https://www.duesseldorf.de/umweltamt/umwelt-und-verbraucherthemen-von-a-z/abfall/recyclinghoefe.html#:~:text=F%C3%BCr%20die%20Entsorgung%20von%20Abf%C3%A4llen,Lohausen%2C%20Niederrheinstra%C3%9Fe%20229
We go to the one in Flingern often (we’re in the middle of renovating our house). The line ups can get pretty big, but a good tip is to just turn around and enter from the other side of the street – the line ups always shorter on the otherside haha.
Hi Jenna. I came across your article because I was looking for information on how to dispose of old used soil from my apartment house plants. Do you have any idea how to dispose it? I’m looking, but have only found out about the plants for compost. I read that a couple of waste management services take old soil, but they are talking about truckloads and I only have a few kgs. Thanks!
Hey there Maryann,
Everything you need to know about disposing soil can be found here on the Awista site: https://www.awista.de/abfall-abc/erde/. ? Basically, if it’s just a small bit of soil, it’s okay to dispose of it in the biotonne (organic waste bin). If it’s a larger amount, you need to take it to the proper facilities like B+R Baustoff Handel. Funny enough, I actually go to the recycling center in Flingern to actually pick up soil, as they usually have a big fresh pile to take from.
In your case, I would suggest just disposing of it in small batches in the organic waste bin since it’s only a few KG. Don’t forget too, that if you had had a bit more to dispose of, some people in the city might also want to pick it up for their gardens too. ?
Hope this all helps!
Best,
Jenna