Germany’s 99% aluminium used beverage can (UBC) recycling rate is not just a collection milestone. It reflects a system designed to make packaging returns convenient, financially rewarding and compatible with large-scale material recovery.
This case study examines how Germany’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), known as Pfand, connects consumer participation with organised collection and industrial recycling. With around 20 billion containers handled annually, the system offers a practical example of how deposit-based collection can support aluminium circularity at scale.
Why Germany’s recycling model stands out
In Europe, Germany leads aluminium UBC recycling, with a reported 99% recycling rate. According to an International Aluminium Institute (IAI) study, this performance sits alongside a 95% recycling rate for PET bottles and 81% for glass bottles.
The figures highlight the role of organised packaging collection across materials. For aluminium, the central challenge is ensuring that UBCs enter dedicated recovery channels, where the metal can be collected and prepared for recycling rather than lost in mixed waste.
Germany’s DRS addresses this challenge by attaching a refundable deposit to eligible single-use beverage containers, creating a direct financial incentive for consumers to return them.
How Germany built DRS
Germany’s nationwide single-use beverage deposit system developed through a series of regulatory and industry-led steps.
The mandatory deposit requirement was decided in 2003. In 2005, retailers and the drinks industry jointly established Deutsche Pfandsystem GmbH (DPG) to develop a standardised framework for implementation.
The nationwide DPG system became operational in May 2006, supported by an extended take-back obligation requiring the new arrangements to be in place from May 1 that year.
Under the scheme, consumers pay a EUR 0.25 deposit on eligible single-use beverage containers and recover the amount when they return the empty packaging through an accepted collection point.
Retail take-back facilities, reverse-vending machines and standardised container identification help make the process part of routine shopping. The model combines a financial incentive with convenient returns and a common framework for participating businesses.
What makes the system effective
Germany’s DRS demonstrates how collection infrastructure and consumer incentives can work together to support packaging recovery.
Three elements are central to the model.
- Financial incentives: The refundable EUR 0.25 deposit gives consumers a direct reason to return eligible containers.
- Accessible collection: Retail take-back arrangements and reverse-vending machines make returning empty packaging convenient.
- Standardised identification: Common container identification helps distinguish eligible packaging and supports organised collection.
Together, these mechanisms establish a recurring flow of used beverage containers into recovery channels. The system handles around 20 billion containers annually and has more than 1,000 affiliated companies participating as participants and partners, according to the supplied DPG material.
The recycling industry behind the collection network
Recovered aluminium must also be sorted and processed through industrial facilities capable of preparing the metal for further use.
Germany’s recycled aluminium capacity is estimated in the supplied material at around 700,000–720,000 tonnes annually. Several industrial operations illustrate the infrastructure supporting this recovery ecosystem.
- Novelis: Its Nachterstedt facility in Germany is described in the supplied material as the world’s largest aluminium recycling facility, with the capacity to process up to 400,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap annually.
- Hydro-owned WMR Recycling GmbH: Based in Dormagen, the company uses technology-driven sorting equipment, including X-ray transmission, and has the capacity to sort 36,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap per year.
- Trimet Aluminium SE: The company expanded its Gelsenkirchen recycling facility, increasing production capacity by 20 per cent to 80,000 tonnes of recycled aluminium.
These operations demonstrate the complementary roles of collection, sorting and recycling. While DRS helps channel used beverage containers into organised recovery systems, industrial facilities provide the capacity and technology needed to process recovered scrap.
For the aluminium industry, this connection is essential. Effective collection creates access to secondary raw materials, while sorting and recycling infrastructure supports their return to industrial use.
Two decades of DRS: A model for packaging circularity
Germany marked 20 years of its nationwide one-way deposit scheme at anniversary celebrations in Berlin on June 17, 2026. The European Commission and Germany’s Federal Environment Ministry highlighted the system’s contribution to the circular economy.
EU Commissioner for the Environment Jessika Roswall emphasised the importance of returning glass bottles, plastic bottles and aluminium cans for recycling. Antje von Broock, Head of the Department for Circular Economy, Air Pollution Control and Chemical Safety at the Federal Environment Ministry, also recognised the deposit-refund system’s contribution to the circular economy.
DPG Managing Director Susanne Kürschner highlighted the system’s evolution, noting the importance of maintaining stability while making it more efficient, resilient, future-proof and scalable.
Germany’s DRS also operates alongside broader packaging collection arrangements, including household sorting through the Dual System, commonly associated with the Grüner Punkt. The deposit scheme provides a dedicated return route for eligible single-use beverage containers, while other packaging follows the applicable collection arrangements.
Source: Germany’s 99% aluminium can recycling magic: How DRS built a circular economy leader