The yellow bag is a special bag for the collection of used packaging material signed with the green-dot. It was introduced in Germany about 15 years ago, to reduce the packaging waste in the dustbins. The green-dot, a recycling symbol, appears since then on many packaging materials, whether it is glass bottles, paper-packaging or material from plastic, metal and composed materials.

Before you decide to drop any packaging in the yellow bag, stop, hold on and think for a moment, what material it is: Glass from bottles or marmalade jars belongs in the public-bottle banks in your area, paper-packaging, for example pizza-cardboard boxes or the boxes around the bags of corn-flakes belong into the Paper-Bin or the waste-paper containers at your estate.

Packaging of plastic or composed-materials, like drink- & milk-cartons, vacuum-packaging, plastic-bottles, beakers from milk-products or margarine belong in the yellow bags. There must be the sign "Der Grüne Punkt" i.e. the green-dot on it, which means, the material is approved for recycling and it has been paid for the collection and the recycling process. Also empty tin-cans or packaging from aluminium can be given in the yellow bag, if the sign "The green-dot" is printed on it. The packaging should be as clean as possible, to avoid any smell or vermin inside or around the yellow bags. The materials are separated after collection mainly in automatic units. Then they are recycled in various industrial processes where new or recycled materials are produced.

If you have spoiled packaging, which can not be recycled or plastic material without the green dot, you can put it into your grey dustbin, for example children toys, plastic furniture, a garden hose or a plastic toothbrush, do not belong into the yellow bag, but in the grey dustbin.

Since five years drinking packaging, if it is from soft-drinks or beer, are part of a deposit-system in Germany. If you see the deposit sign on your plastic-bottles or tin-cans, you pay a deposit of 25 €-cents when purchasing, and will get it back at deposit automates at the most stores. So please do not give these bottles (though they are from plastic-material) in the yellow bags. You will waste your deposit and in some areas yellow bags put out for collection are torn off and checked for deposit-bottles to be collected.

We furthermore notice that yellow bags are not being proper used for the recycling purpose. For example they are used for other collection aims like grass ore hedge-cutting, for old-clothing collection, just for normal household rubbish or even as packaging or plastic-film for any other cases. So we have distributed bags that are produced in a thinner quality, to stop misappropriation.

You should place your yellow bags in a shady and well ventilated area in your house. If one bag is full, just knot it and store it in the cellar or garage for next collection, which takes place every four weeks. The dates are shown in the ASP waste-calendar for Paderborn. You can also find out the collection dates for your street in internet: www.asp-paderborn.de , also in English.

At the ASP-recycling courts "Driburger Straße" and "An der Talle", well sorted yellow bags are accepted free of charge. There you can also get your next roll of yellow bags free of charge.

For further information call ASP Waste-Information 05251 / 88-1718 (English is spoken) or contact our homepage www.asp-paderborn.de . You could also ask your estate-manager or your neighbours if you are new in Paderborn and want to know how the recycling in Pader-born works.