Yellow bag & yellow garbage can - disposing of plastic waste correctly

Practical, safe, free of charge: the yellow garbage can.

Up to date:

Where can I get yellow bags?

Yellow bags are distributed to all households once a year at the end of the year by the company Friedrich Hofmann GmbH. This does not apply to residential complexes where yellow containers are installed or residential buildings that use yellow garbage cans.

You can obtain yellow bags from the following collection points:

Yellow bag drop-off points:

• Environmental and Waste Advisory Service, Schuhstraße 40, ground floor, room 010, tel. 86 29 39
• Social department store Erlangen, Alfred-Wegener-Straße 11, Tel. 9200-4500
• DHB-Netzwerk Haushalt, OV Erlangen e.V., Hauptstraße 55, Tel. 20 64 24
• Citizens' Office, Rathausplatz 1/EG (information desk), tel. 86 24 12 and 86 29 30
• Company Friedrich Hofmann GmbH, Frauenauracher Straße 73, Tel. 7 96 10
• Waste transfer station/recyclables yard of the Zweckverband, Am Hafen 5 a, tel. 99 26 00

When are the yellow bags collected and the garbage cans and containers emptied?

The collection of yellow bags and the emptying of yellow containers or garbage cans does not always take place on the same day as the emptying of paper bins. This is because the yellow bags are usually collected on the same day of the week every 14 days throughout the city. The yellow containers and garbage cans are emptied at the same time. You can view the exact day for your building online in the city's waste calendar. There you can also subscribe to your collection dates as an e-mail notification or reminder or integrate them directly into your digital calendar via iCal/WebCal. Alternatively, you can have your annual calendar or a list of the next 10 dates sent to you as a PDF by e-mail, for example to print out the dates.

The emptying frequency of the paper garbage can is still once - in some districts twice - a month.

Please place the yellow bag next to your blue paper garbage can at the earliest the day before the collection date or by 7.00 a.m. on the same day.

To the digital waste calendar

What is the yellow bag for?

Yellow bags or yellow garbage cans are used to collect and dispose of packaging made of composite materials and plastics - so-called sales packaging. The yellow sacks are mainly used for this purpose; in larger residential complexes, this packaging is disposed of in the yellow garbage can.

Responsibility for the collection, sorting and recycling of packaging lies with industry and trade. Duales-System-Deutschland AG (DSD) was founded for this purpose in 1993. The "green dot" on disposable packaging financed the "Dual System". The manufacturers of goods had to purchase it from DSD as a license mark for their packaging. These costs are still included in the sales price of the goods and collection and recycling is therefore financed by the consumer via the product price. In addition to DSD (now a GmbH), there are now numerous other system operators such as ISD Interseroh Dienstleistungs GmbH, Landbell AG, EKO-Punkt GmbH, Vfw GmbH, Redual GmbH & CoKG, Belland Vision GmbH, ZENTEK Deutschland GmbH & CoKG and VERLO GmbH & CoKG. A printed license mark is therefore no longer a reliable indicator of licensing. Manufacturers of packaged products can obtain a license from any of the approved dual systems. The criterion for packaging to be included in this collection system is the fact that it is sales packaging that accumulates at the end consumer. In contrast to outer or transport packaging, sales packaging is packaging that protects a product until it is actually consumed. This means that these types of packaging always end up with the end consumer, i.e. the last person in the chain to consume the product.

Do not throw your disposable packaging into the residual waste garbage can, as you have already paid for its collection and recycling in the purchase price.

This belongs in the yellow bag:

All disposable packaging made of aluminum and plastic and composite materials.

• Cans and packaging parts made of metal (e.g. jam jar lids) - this has been regulated since 01.01.2021)
• Plastic cups e.g. for dairy products, margarine
• Plastic films e.g. carrier bags, bags, wrapping film
• Foams e.g. fruit and vegetable containers and other foamed packaging
• Plastic bottles e.g. for washing-up liquids, detergents or personal care products
• Composite materials e.g. juice and milk cartons
• Aluminum packaging, aluminum foil, aluminum cans

Make sure that the packaging is completely empty, the composites (yoghurt pots and lids) are separated and not too dirty!

Examples of what does not belong in the yellow bag/bin:

• Glass bottles should be disposed of in the collection bins at the recycling container sites
• Plastic furniture
• Beverage crates
• Toilet lids
• Cleaning buckets
• Socket strips
• Children's toys
• Cassettes (audio, video)