Recycling is practically a national hobby in environmentally conscious Germany. If you live in an apartment building, you’ll be confronted with a full phalanx of containers – one each for paper, plastics and packaging, clear glass, coloured glass and the rest of the rubbish. You may even have a brown container especially for compost materials, which is basically all non-meat food waste. Residents are legally required to separate these items and place them in the proper bins, but only the most egregious offenders are ever caught or fined. In Berlin, the company that manages your building will have already contracted with a rubbish disposal and recycling group and added this to your monthly bill. If you’re on your own, the selection isn’t that great and it’s easiest to go with the incumbent, Berliner Stadtreinigung (www.bsr.de).

Getting rid of old electronics, paints or auto batteries is a bit more difficult and requires a trip to one of BSR’s recycling yards. They’re noted on the company’s website and are located on the edge of Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg. They charge for some items and not for others – it seems to be as much up to their fee schedule as the whim of BSR employees.