Where Glass Goes in Frankfurt: Blue Containers 7 to 20 on Working Days, and a Yellow Bin Instead of Yellow Bags

Four Bins at Home, One Container in the Street

Newcomers from other cities often look for a recycling island or a bag collection. In Frankfurt, FES runs two systems side by side. Waste that is collected at the house goes into bins: according to FES’s sorting brochure every house has the yellow bin for packaging, the green one for paper and cardboard, the brown one for organic waste and the grey one for residual waste. Waste you carry yourself goes to a drop-off point. Glass belongs to the second group: it is one of the everyday materials that has no bin at the house.

Glass: The Blue Container Rules

FES’s page on glass containers sets out the rules.

• Where: blue containers stand on central, easy-to-reach places across the city. A company named Remondis sets them up and empties them, on behalf of the system operator, usually every 14 days and more often if needed.
• When: only on Werktage between 7:00 and 20:00. That word normally covers Monday to Saturday and excludes Sundays and public holidays. The sticker on the container has the final word.
• What: beverage bottles, ketchup bottles, medicine bottles, jars with lids such as jam jars, cream pots and perfume bottles.
• Colours: white, green and brown separately. Blue or coloured glass goes into the green container. Lids need not be removed.
• What not: mirrors and panes, drinking glasses, vases, porcelain, ceramics, light bulbs of any kind, and heavily soiled glass.

To find the nearest container, use the FrankfurtPlus app, which shows container locations on a map and also lists your bin collection dates. The Umweltbundesamt adds three habits: do not put reusable deposit bottles in the container, do not leave bags or boxes next to it, and carry the glass on foot or by bike if you can.

The hours matter more than you would think. A crate of bottles at 21:00 is the classic way to annoy a neighbour, and our pages on Sunday quiet hours and midday quiet hours explain what else is restricted in Frankfurt homes.

Packaging: The Yellow Bin

According to FES, the Verpackungstonne takes all packaging that does not consist only of paper, cardboard or glass:

• plastic such as foils, cups and styrofoam,
• composites such as drink cartons and milk cartons,
• metal packaging such as tins and drink cans, but only those without a deposit,
• foamed plastic such as fruit and vegetable trays.

Packaging must be empty but not rinsed. Paper packaging, glass packaging and heavily soiled fast-food packaging such as pizza boxes do not belong in it. The bin is emptied every 14 days and is free of charge for residents, according to the city page.

Two practical rules follow:

1. Tenants cannot order the bin. FES says to ask your landlord or property manager.
2. A dirty bin is not emptied. If more than 10 percent of the contents are wrong, it stays full. You can remove the wrong items before the next regular collection, or order a paid special emptying as residual waste in writing.

Yellow bags exist for exceptions only. FES lets you put them next to the bin on collection day when the bin is not enough. You can pick them up at the FES Servicecenter at Liebfrauenberg 52 to 54, at the Wertstoffhöfe Süd and Nord during opening hours, and at the gate of the Wertstoffhof Ost around the clock.

Bigger Loads: Wertstoffhöfe

For packaging and other recyclables that do not fit your bins, Frankfurt residents can use the Kofferraumservice. It is free of charge up to one cubic metre, and green waste up to three. The city names the four Wertstoffhöfe: Nord at Max-Holder-Straße 29, Ost at Weidenbornstraße 40, Süd at Seehofstraße 48 and West at Palleskestraße 36a, plus two Kleinmüllplätze. Accepted are bulky waste, scrap metal, electrical appliances, paper, light packaging and one car battery. Opening hours differ by site, so check them with FES first. For furniture and large items, the free pickup described in our page on bulky waste is often easier. The city page does not list glass among the materials accepted there, so the blue containers remain the standard route.

Odds and Ends: Bulbs, Chemicals, Costs

Two items from the glass family do not belong in the container. Energy-saving lamps and chemicals such as paint or solvents go to the pollutant collection. FES explains that the pollutant mobile visits every Frankfurt district at fixed times three to four times a month, and that the Wertstoffhöfe Nord and West take pollutants at a fixed site. The mobile’s dates are in the FES magazine and on its website.

Who pays is another point that confuses newcomers. The glass containers and the yellow bin belong to the dual system: according to FES, collection and recycling of used packaging is organised and financed privately across Germany, and for the yellow bin the cost is covered by licence fees that producers and sellers pay for each packaging. For residents the yellow bin is free. The rest of the city’s waste service is financed differently, through the usage fees the city charges under its waste fee statute. The FrankfurtPlus app also shows your collection dates with reminders, so a bin is rarely forgotten at the kerb.

A Simple Routine

1. Keep one box for glass and one for deposit bottles under the sink.
2. Sort the glass by colour when you carry it down, and add blue or coloured glass to the green container.
3. Take it out on a working day before 20:00, on foot if possible.
4. Put light packaging in the yellow bin without rinsing, and check that it holds no paper or glass.
5. If the building has no yellow bin, write to the property manager.
6. Use the FrankfurtPlus app for container locations and collection dates.

Compliance Note

This guide describes the rules published by FES Frankfurt, the City of Frankfurt and the Umweltbundesamt in October 2026. Container locations, collection schedules and the rules of your building can change. When in doubt, check the FES website or ask your property manager.