wait wtf is w germany and pfand what even is pfand i dont understand
Imagine you’re in Germany. Let’s say you just happen to be at a gas station and you’re thirsty. “Ah, ah nice bottle of apple juice” you think. “and it’s only 1,50€!”
You get to the counter. The clerk scans your bottle. “That’s 1,75€” they say.
1,75€? But it said 1,50€! Is this a cruel joke? Are you being punked? No, my dear, you just witnessed Pfand!
Basically, whenever you purchase bottled or canned drinks in Germany, you will have to pay 25 cents more than the listed price. But! You will get that money back! Drink the stuff, bring back the bottle to the store, they give you your 25 cents. Bigger stores have a “Pfandautomat”, a machine where you put in all your bottles and it gives you a coupon worth the amount of Pfand you put in, which the store will accept as payment (because they’d have to give you the money in cash either way).
The reason for this policy is simply one of environmental awareness. Instead of just throwing away old plastic bottles and such, people are encouraged to bring them back to the store, which will then take care of them properly.