What you toss in San Francisco won't fly in Berlin. Recycling rules, bin colors and accepted materials vary wildly by country. If you've moved abroad or you're traveling, here's the cheat sheet you need.
🇺🇸 United States
System: Single-stream recycling in most cities. One
blue bin for paper, plastic, metal, glass.
Recycling rate: ~32% (one of the lowest among developed
countries).
Pitfall: Plastic bags & film are
never curbside — store drop-off only.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
System: Council-dependent. Most have separate bins for
recycling, food waste and garden waste. Color codes vary.
Recycling rate: ~44%.
Pitfall: Soft plastics now collected at major
supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-op).
🇩🇪 Germany
System: The strictest in the world. 5+ bins: Gelbe
Tonne (yellow — packaging), Blaue Tonne (blue — paper), Bio (organics),
Restmüll (residual), plus glass containers and Pfand (deposit)
bottles.
Recycling rate: ~67% (world leader).
Pitfall: Pfand bottles — return to the store for
€0.08–€0.25 back. Don't toss them.
See: Mülltrennung Deutschland Guide
🇨🇦 Canada
System: Province- and city-dependent. Most major cities
have recycling, organics and trash. Quebec uses single-stream; Toronto
separates organics.
Recycling rate: ~28% (counting only municipal).
Pitfall: Black plastics often rejected — sorters can't
detect them.
🇦🇺 Australia
System: Yellow lid (recycling), red lid (general),
green lid (organics in many councils).
Recycling rate: ~60%.
Pitfall: "10c container deposit" schemes exist in most
states — bottles & cans return for refund.
🇫🇷 France
System: Yellow bin (extended in 2023 to all plastics),
green/blue (paper/glass), brown (organics where rolled out).
Recycling rate: ~43%.
Pitfall: Glass is dropped at street containers, not
curbside.
🇯🇵 Japan
System: Hyper-local. Some Tokyo wards have 4 streams;
the village of Kamikatsu sorts into 45 categories.
Recycling rate: ~20% (low official; high incineration
with energy recovery).
Pitfall: Burnable vs non-burnable trash — pickup days
are strict.
🇸🇪 Sweden
System: Famous for waste-to-energy. Less than 1% goes
to landfill.
Recycling rate: ~50% material + ~49% energy
recovery.
Pitfall: Sweden imports waste from neighbors to feed
its incinerators.
Comparison: Recycling Rate & Bin Count
| Country | Rate | Typical Bins | Deposit Scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 67% | 5+ | Yes (Pfand) |
| Australia | 60% | 3 | Yes (most states) |
| Sweden | 50% | 3-4 | Yes |
| UK | 44% | 3-4 | Coming 2027 |
| France | 43% | 3 | Pilot |
| USA | 32% | 1-2 | 10 states |
| Canada | 28% | 2-3 | Most provinces |
| Japan | 20% | 4-45 | Limited |
What This Means For You
Wherever you live or visit, the only reliable way to know is to check local rules. Apps that auto-detect your city — like TrashSort — solve this in seconds. As a global rule of thumb: rinse, separate, and never bag recycling in plastic bags.
Sort right anywhere in the world
TrashSort detects your city and applies its rules automatically.
