German · Mülltrennung
You do not know which bin to put the rubbish in: what to say in German
You do not know which bin to put the rubbish in.
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How it's done. In Germany rubbish is sorted: Papier (paper), Bio (organic), Gelber Sack or Gelbe Tonne (plastic and packaging), Restmüll (the rest); glass goes separately into containers. Bin colours depend on the city.Prepared by the Movko team, November 2026. This is language help, not legal or medical advice: check the rules with the office itself.
Cheat sheet for your visit
The first phrase is open: tap ▶ to listen, or “Show” to show it to the other person. The rest of the dialogue is in the course in the app.
1
YOU START
Entschuldigung, in welche Tonne kommt das?
Aynt-SHOOL-dee-goong, een VEL-kheh TOH-neh komt dahs?
Excuse me, which bin does this go in?
Or say:Entschuldigung, wohin kommt Plastik?
Aynt-SHOOL-dee-goong, voh-KHEEN komt PLAHS-teek?
THEY SAY
Plastik kommt in den gelben Sack.PLAHS-teek komt een dayn GEL-bayn zahk.
Plastic goes into the yellow bag.
They might also say:
Das kommt in die gelbe Tonne.
Dahs komt een dee GEL-beh TOH-neh.
That goes into the yellow bin.
2
YOU REPLY
Und Papier?
Oont puh-PEER?
And paper?
THEY SAY
Papier kommt in die blaue Tonne.Puh-PEER komt een dee BLOW-eh TOH-neh.
Paper goes into the blue bin.
3
YOU REPLY
Und für Essensreste?
Oont fyoor EH-sayn-sres-teh?
And for food waste?
THEY SAY
Dafür gibt es die braune Biotonne.Duh-FYOOR geept es dee BROW-neh BEE-oh-toh-neh.
For that there is the brown organic waste bin.
4
YOU FINISH
Danke, das hilft mir sehr!
DAHN-keh, dahs kheelft meer zehr!
Thank you, that helps me a lot!
The course is in the app
This dialogue is part of the course “German for life in Germany”: 416 situations with audio, a pronunciation guide and spaced review.
On the website the first dialogue, the 112 category, the rescue phrases and the “Basics” are fully open.
Words worth knowing
Tonne
TOH-neh
noun
bin
kommt
komt
verb
comes
Plastik
PLAHS-teek
noun
plastic
gelben
GEL-bayn
adjective
yellow
Sack
zahk
noun
sack, bag
Papier
puh-PEER
noun
paper
19 more words, with explanations, base forms and tap-a-word help, are in the app.
If you did not understand
Können Sie das bitte wiederholen?
KYOH-nayn zee dahs BEE-teh vee-dehr-KHOH-layn?
Can you repeat that, please?
Können Sie mir das zeigen?
KYOH-nayn zee meer dahs TSIGH-gayn?
Can you show me?
Similar situations
You want to get rid of an old sofaMülltrennung · A2 in the app
→A neighbour says glass must not be thrown out in the eveningMülltrennung · A2 in the app
→You look for where to put plastic wasteMülltrennung · A1 in the app
→You want to take an old wardrobe to the recycling centreMülltrennung · A2 in the app
→Found a mistake? Write to us and we will fix it. This is language help, not medical or legal advice.Report