Pfand: the German bottle deposit, per the statute itself

The statute — §46 VerpackDG, Pfand- und Rücknahmepflichten für Einweggetränkeverpackungen — obliges first-marketers of filled single-use beverage packaging to charge their customers a deposit of at least 0.25 euros including VAT per container, with the deposit collected by every further marketer at all trade levels until the end customer. Containers must be marked as deposit-bearing durably, clearly legibly and in a highly visible place — the DPG logo you see on cans and plastic bottles is that obligation in the wild.

Source: VerpackDG §46 — gesetze-im-internet.de (Bundesministerium der Justiz), read 10 September 2026.

The same section carries the return side: marketers of deposit-bearing single-use containers must take back emptied containers free of charge at the place of actual handover or in its immediate vicinity, during customary business hours — the legal floor under every supermarket's Pfandautomat. First-marketers must also participate in a unified, nationwide deposit system that settles refund claims between participants and publishes take-back information for consumers. The machine spits a voucher; the till pays it out.

Source: VerpackDG §46 — Rücknahmepflichten, read 10 September 2026.

Field notes for week one: the €0.25 statutory deposit covers labelled single-use containers — reusable (Mehrweg) bottles run on their own, typically smaller, deposits set by the system that issues them; crates compound. Machines read the label's markings, so crushed cans confuse them, and the voucher is redeemed where it was printed. The statute now sits inside the act implementing EU Packaging Regulation 2025/40 — Germany's system pre-dates the EU-wide deposit wave and remains its reference model. Small money, but it's the first German law most movers interact with daily.

Source: Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (VerpackDG) — gesetze-im-internet.de, read 10 September 2026.