In Germany, it is illegal to discharge waste into sewage based on the laws "Wasserhaushaltsgesetz" and "Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz". So there is no law needed to explicitely forbid these devices.

This thing is crazy who the fuck came to the conclusion lets get all our food waste into the water.

Europeans learn that electronic garbage disposals in sinks exist only from American horror movies.

Americans: We send our food waste down the drain. Europeans: Have you ever wondered why there are so many rats in the US sewage system? Americans:

Most countries in western Europe ban these things. Where they are not illegal, their use is very rare. About 0.004 percent of homes in Europe have one. That's one house in every 22,000. The build-up of fats in the pipes is a major reason for this ban, and a major contributor to rat infestation in US cities.

Here in Germany, organic waste is also recycled. It is either turned into potting compost for agriculture or into methane gas. Nothing is wasted here 😆.

Its more bad for the water cleaning facilitys, and it feeds the rats. (At least that is what a worker from such a water cleaning Facility told me in Teamspeak when i played Wow 15 Years ago)

In Germany many people even use devices in the sinks that are emptied and cleaned regularly to minimize the stuff going down the drain.

Everybody seems to assume that what gets flushed down the sink, appears directly at the sewage works. It has to travel, through underground pipes, sometimes for miles, before reaching the treatment plant. The thicker the garbage water the slower it flows, it can clog the pipes very easily. This will attract all sorts of undesirables and even increase maintenance costs of clearing blockages.

😅Ryan was about to move to Germany...but the fact that garbage disposal is banned there made him cancel his plans

A garbage disposal unit in the kitchen sink is essentially a smoothie maker or minestrone blender for rats, cockroaches, etc. It's like willingly preparing readymade meals and actively feeding rats in sewers... It also massively alters and impedes the way a water treatment plant works. Sewer water treatment costs vastly increase while decreasing efficiency and needing more energy, etc. So yeah, it's either illegal or very frowned upon to have a garbage disposal in many European countries. It's viewed as the pinnacle of laziness and environmental carelessness. In France too they're are not allowed, except on derogation. I think you could only have one if you have a septic tank and are not linked to the sewers, if I recall correctly. And even then, you'd need a derogation. Plus, when mixed with sewer water pollutants, the "garbage disposal smoothie" can't be easily used as energy source and has become improper for composting. So it's a double loss. Using the right garbage bin for the right elements is quite easy. And then your food leftovers can be used to produce energy or create compost. Plus, it costs a lot less in water treatment to the community. And voilà! 😘

IN GERMANY WE DONT HAVE ZE LEFTOVERZ! WE ALWAYS EAT UP! just for the superstitions about bad weather (we cant afford more bad weather).😂

It is actually prohibited to flush any garbage down the drain, that’s why garbage disposals are actually not allowed. Also the additional load on sewage treatment plants would make sewage treatment harder/would take longer.

If I understood correctly you use tap water to flush your leftovers down the garbage disposal. That is also a waste of water (compared to throwing them into a bin)

the guy in the comments is wrong, it IS illegal because its illegal in the EU expect a country makes an expectation. The EU prohibited the use generally with the option for member countries to make exceptions, but there are only few countries allowing its use, and local authorities generally emphasize the prohibition. I was in many countries in the EU and i never seen one anywhere.

It was banned long before recycling became a thing. We prefer to keep the rat population in the canalisation small, so we do not feed them via the drain.

it's not just germany, it's prohibited in the whole EU. there are exceptions to it i don't know exactly in detail, but personally, i've never seen one in the whole EU. the problem with garbage disposals is that, as soon as you install it, most people just missuse it. if it would just be for some minor stuff that gets into the sinks drain by accident, it would be fine and such a system would help. but in reality people just dispose their excess food into the garbage disposal. for biowaste, europeans have a dedicated bin. europe has just way more regulations in place to protect the environment. of course it's convenient. but it's also convenient to just get rid of your motoroil in the regular sink, burn your old tires and throw everything just next to the street. europeans sort their trash and care about the environment. (of course not all. but it's a staggering difference compared to the us)

you can drink water from the water taps in germany since we have laws to maintain those stuff we dont want to make it harder to do so

These cultural differences are fascinating. Like how a garbage disposal units are considered essential in the US, yet a simple detachable handheld shower head which is typical in Europe seems to be unheard of over there 😮

The problem is fat. Fat tends to clog sieves and tubes, differently than pee or poop.

It's probably because the same reason why you shouldn't put food down the toilet. Food (especially the fats on it) can cause serious blockages in the sewer systems and its expensive to clean

Yes we have 4 bins: 1. Paper (mostly blue) 2. Recyclable (mostly yellow for Aluminium, plastics or other recyclable stuff) 3. Bio (mostly brown) 4. Restmüll (left over garbage mostly black)

Most missed the point. Gardeners use the organic waste for compost and making new rich soil.

Dude now I get why our water is so much better

I guess it's a mentality thing, "if I don't see it anymore, it's gone". Just like Americans used to push their used razor blades through a slot in the wall to just pile up behind it. Land fills we don't do here anymore either. It's a form of procrastination and littering. You call it garbage disposal but it's not really disposed, just out of your sight. Sewers and poop disposal have always been a big concern in European cities historically, especially from the public health pespective. It's like the prime responsibility of city hall and they are not burdening the sewage system unnecessarily, the poo is enough to handle.

Here in northern italy, it's actually very common (if you have the space) to throw organic waste on piles or into boxes in the garden and just let it rot. The waste rots into compost soil that can later be used in the garden as fertilizer. Some people also build a worm box which apparently speeds up the process, or if you have excess electrical energy from a solar plant, you could use an electrical composter to speed it up even more. Why should we throw away all that good stuff? Isn't it the same in rural areas in germany?

I don't have a garbage disposal. I have a dog and a compost heap.

Being so shocked about things being different in other countries is very American :)

Generally, "convenient" means environmental damage! But also, putting food in a recycle bin means this food is used to produce power! I live on an estate that uses food and certain rubbish to run a power station in the centre of the estate. It means I pay $300 a year for all my water, heat and light!

For the kitchen sink you usually have a sink strainer, that is made to mostly only let water through. So you put your leftovers in the trash, rinse your plate (only if any food is stuck to the plate - rinsing is wasteful compared to dishwashers) and then you can just clean the sink of the leftovers. Oftentimes the sink strainer is designed to be easily removable, so whatever is stuck on it can easily be put in the trash.

One of the main reasons it is essentially bad for the environment is the massively increased volume of total waste in the water that this causes. The volume alone would significantly impact the amount of work and energy needed to process the water. Another reason is that food waste is more prone to certain kinds of bacterial growth that reduce the oxygen levels and therefore the quality of the water, which can make the water harmful to aquatic life that needs a certain level of oxygen in the water to live.

I am German but live in the Netherlands and here we also dont have them and I have never seen one in my life other than in american movies or series. Here we have a blue bin (paper), Green (Organics) and Grey (all others) and in germany many have also a yellow one for plastic. In NL in most cities you also dont throuw everything in the grey one because you pay per empty and KG waste for the grey one. Where I live it costs 1 euro for empty the bin and 7 cent per KG. However the green and blue bin are "free" (yearly fixed cost).

I know these things only from horror movies, where usually some body parts get in there.

so you DO read comments, and choose to ignore the fact that everyone tells you that the ending "e" is never silent in german xD

my grandma had alot of these, they were called chickens these days.

Have you ever seen gas explosions from sewer systems? If you drop tons of organic waste in the sewersystems (perfectly cut down to small pieces) there would be uch more methan gas in the sewers.

In Germany, as in many EU countries, such approval is usually rejected. DIN 1986-100, No. 6.5 from October 2001:[6] “Shredders for kitchen waste, garbage, paper, etc. as well as towel dispensers with a flushing device, where the shredded items can get into the drainage system, must not be connected to the wastewater system.” [7] The device is no longer mentioned in the successor regulation DIN 12056. There is no national ban in Germany, but most municipalities prohibit the discharge of kitchen waste, even in shredded form, in their drainage regulations.

The important part in this discussion is the sewage treatment plant. It all depends how they are set up and how the work to clean the sewage water. This varies from country to country and in germany it varies even for every municipality. Therefor garbage disposals can be against the law in the city you live. As another example detering agents in skandinavien countries contain phosphate anions or salts, which then the treatment plant has to consider and they need to adjust their water treatment process accordingly. Such detering agents where sold in germany in the 70s and 80s but arent sold today anymore. Treament plants arent adjusted for those detergents anymore and if lots of people would start using phosphate detergents again we would see lots and lots of white foam on our rivers again. Same with food and organic waste. If you just put it down your drainage the sewage treatment plant has a way more complecated and more expensive process to get the water clean again. So, if you just collect organic waste in a bin, put it into a compost processing plant, which costs money but on the other hand you have a cheaper and easier time with the water treatment. If one guy uses them it is not a problem, but if thousands or milions use them it gets an issue. It is just different ways of treating human societies disposals. Not saying one is better than the other, but garbage dispolas are definitely the more convenient one, and the USofA is all about convenience as we know. To my knowledge garbage disposals are almost an unique thing to North America, the rest of the world tends to collect the waste seperately and not pollute with additional waste. But those organic bins can also have some downsides, especially in the hotter summer months.

In Germany we throw “garbage” in the trash can, not down the drain.

Yes, most people have these four bins. Or they have a garden and toss their Bio waste straight there to make their own fertilizer. Never seen a garbage disposable either, and honestly, why would you need one? Toss your stuff into the sink and pick up the chunks in the little sieve to throw them into the trash. It's easy, doesn't cost money and doesn't use electricity.

At my place (outskirt of Prague, Czechia), currently have only 3 standard 120l/32gal bins for "non-reusable" waste in our 18-unit apartment building, which we pay for at 2/w balance. They are never completely full. Nearby are containers for sorted paper, plastic and cans, which the city will collect at its own expense. I think, two dustbins would be enough for us. And... you answered why garbage disposals are so popular in the US, because of convenience. The expenditure (work or money) for sewage treatment goes to another - the city. But you will pay twice for the convenience. First in taxes. Water purification is an expensive business. It is definitely much easier to dispose of poop and pee than waste that takes much longer to biodegrade. Including solid waste that also settles in the canals. Secondly, the price includes the purchase, operation and service of garbage disposals. If you wil buy composter and there put cutted grass and food leftovers, you wil have nice compost for your garden plants and no need to buy a new one every year in the shop. win-win

Never heard of that thing, so thanks for showing. Though now that I have learned about it I don't see any need for having it. It's so easy to put the garbage into the garbage can and rinse off the rest with water, barely an inconvience.

I cant wait for a 2 hour podcast hosted by you where you talk about whatever comes into your mind. You‘re entertaining.

Where I live in Britain we have three wheelie bins per household - recycling: paper and card, plastic containers, glass and tins; general waste; and garden waste (which we have to pay extra for). The recycling and general waste are collected alternate weeks, and the garden waste on a different day once every four weeks. These days, the recycling bin is usually considerably more full than the general waste bin. But if you have special waste (e.g. electrical waste, waste paint etc) or more garden waste than will fit in your bin, you can take it yourself to the local household waste disposal site, which isn't a long drive away. But the arrangements vary by local authority, and my in-laws had paper collected separately from other recycling. When we moved to our current house at the start of the 1990s, there was a waste disposal unit fitted to the kitchen sink, but it broke down and we decided not to replace it. We had an ordinary waste pipe fitted instead. We have very little food left over, our main food waste is from peeling vegetables etc.

To be more precise, garbage disposers are not prohibited in Germany. The ban comes from (some) municipalities that operate the wastewater pipes.

My mum just told me the other day that she's sometimes frustrated that a lot of young people don't care about doing at least little things to have the environment while she's trying her best and won't be here anymore in a few years.

Gotta say I loved this thing while living in America….but every time I felt so bad for all the stuff i was just throwing down the drain and all the chemicals going into the water. ✨

Ryan, it is illegal! it is the European Union that generally prohibits garbage disposals. Individual EU States may make certain exceptions to the general prohibition but it’s very rare that any exceptions are granted. The European Union does not authorize food waste disposals per EN 12056-1, § 4.6.

Garbage disposals can be approved in the EU (EN 12056-1 Chapter 4, Paragraph 6). In Germany, such approval was rejected (formerly: DIN 1986-100, No. 6.5 from October 2001). The device is no longer mentioned in the successor regulation (DIN 12056). So there is currently no national ban in Germany. However, most municipalities prohibit the discharge of kitchen waste, even in shredded form, in their drainage regulations.

10:01 In Germany, not everyone has four bins. For example, where I live, you only have two bins: one for recycling and one for everything else.

Moin, I am now 54 years old and have lived in Germany my whole life. I've never had a garbage disposal in my kitchen sink and don't know anyone who has or has ever had one. I moved around 35 times myself and NONE of the rental apartments or rental houses (all of which already had a fitted kitchen installed) had such a part. Even when I worked as a chef for several years, I never saw such a device at my previous employers. I only know Garbage shredder in kitchen sinks from American horror films🔞. That's enough for me and it doesn't make me think or feel good - I don't need anything like that. 🌪️👉👹👈🌀 Greetings from Northern Germany ♥️🇩🇪

Dunno bout Germany, but here in Austria we differentiate between "brownwater" (poop, pee and other strong pollutants) and "greywater" (mostly water with few pollutants). They are treated differently and there are two separate sewage cycles. At least in the cities.

one thing i really appreciate about ryan is that he will ALWAYS read his comments and interact with them 👏👏

I've read up on the topic and will summarize it here. Due to the expense of purchasing and installing the devices, the overall economic costs of their use are higher than with other disposal methods and therefore result in a poor ecological balance. Rinsing out the shredded kitchen waste increases water consumption. The information on additional consumption is on average 3 liters per person per day. The energy consumption of the device is 2 to 4 kWh per year. If kitchen waste shredders were introduced, it would generally not be possible to do without organic waste bins, as these are needed for the disposal of grass and shrub cuttings and other waste that cannot be processed in the waste shredder. German sewage treatment plants practice so-called co-fermentation. Decomposable waste with a high water and sufficiently high energy content is fermented together with the sludge from the primary clarifier in the digester. The resulting biogas (called sewage gas in sewage treatment plants) with a high methane content is converted into electricity in the plant. The waste heat is used to heat the company buildings and digesters or in gas turbines. The energy content of kitchen waste is approximately 3.9 MJ per kg. In contrast, composting moist organic waste is associated with a poorer energy and climate balance. Dispersed and especially dissolved components of the shredded kitchen waste cannot be completely separated from the water in the primary clarifier, which further increases the oxygen and thus energy requirements in the aeration tank. The amount of sewage sludge will increase significantly. Sewage sludge treatment is complex and expensive in many plants, especially since the sludge is no longer allowed to be used agriculturally in more and more areas. In Germany, as in many EU countries, such approval is usually rejected. DIN 1986-100, No. 6.5 from October 2001 “Shredders for kitchen waste, garbage, paper, etc. as well as towel dispensers with a flushing device, where the shredded items can get into the drainage system, must not be connected to the wastewater system. There is no national ban in Germany, but most municipalities prohibit the discharge of kitchen waste, even in shredded form, in their drainage regulations!

This guy from Reddit should have read the Wikipedia article properly. Shredders for kitchen waste, garbage, paper, etc. as well as towel dispensers with a flushing device, where the shredded flushing material can enter the drainage system, must not be connected to the wastewater system. There is no national ban in Germany, but most local authorities prohibit the discharge of kitchen waste, even in shredded form, in their drainage bylaws. In Germany, as in many EU countries, approval for garbage disposal is usually refused.

All our waste water goes to sewage plants to clear them up. This was completed over decades, so that now even the most polluted rivers like the Elbe for instance in Hamburg has now beaches , for swimming right an the border in walkable distance in the harbor and the city center. All four drains and sewage plants are not laid out for food waste , which also would create a rat overpopulation. Food waste goes into a bio bin, gets collected for composting or generating bio gas power plants. Same principle with industrial waste water, it gets cleared up in sewage plants, sometimes beforehand separated from dangerous contents, such as in every car wash for instance, the water gets processed immediately from dangerous things like rubber dust or break pad dust, before it goes the normal sewage ways. The whole system works very well, and just is not layed out for millions of tons daily biodegradable waste . That even becomes a second useful determination. Also, all that educated the people to think of the environment, when you see the benefits of having swimmable water in the rivers again , eatable fish in there and beach clubs in the city besides huge containerships. All that was unthinkable decades ago, and even beleived to be impossible forever. Can you swim in the Hudson or Mississippi or Red river or Colorado river?

With increased cargo you need more water, and food in the water increases the number of rats, which of course think it's great at the buffet. The effort to clean the wastewater becomes greater and therefore more expensive. Organic substances (except feces) are disposed of in the organic waste bin. This will be used to produce gas for energy supply and compost. The waste is used for energy and then incorporated back into the fields and gardens. A natural process.

I am from austria, but there is a lot of diversity for each county. I was in Vienna for 10 years and you can just rhrow everything in the trash via the cheap black bags you get in every store. I moved back home around 2 years ago and separating waste is really strict here. For "Restmüll", which is anything not paper, plastic, compostable, glass or metal, you have to purchase expensive bags, which are taken from your yard around every 2 weeks. There are containers for metal and glass around every squarekm (you take your metal and glass waste their via walking/cycling/car) and everyone has a container for paper, which is taken by a truck around every 2 weeks. Plastic needs bags aswell, which are specific to our towns, just like Restmüll. People with a house often have a compost in their yard and others have a "green waste" trashcan, but i don't really have experience with those. Whenever i mow the lawn I have to put everything into a car trailer and take it down to the local waste station (you can also dispose of waste like broken boilers), which is only open 1 day a week for around 2 hours. Same for twigs or bigger green waste. If you have a chipper, you can throw some of it on your compost, but it depends on the quantity of trees and bushes you have. But as i said, on the other side of the country, things are not that strict. It really depends on where you are.

There are also another types of trash, that we seperate: Glass (Altglas) and clothes/textiles (Altkleider). Both are thrown into containers, which are distributed everywhere all over Germany (so noone has to walk to far to get rid of it). Also special waste like batteries, which are illegal to put into the trash, or Altöl (used oil), what is illegal to put into the sink. For batteries you have to go to the next supermarket to throw it in a special bin, and for oil you have to go to the next recycling center or shop, where you can get oil (If someone sells "Öl" they have to take your "Altöl"). "Altglas-Container"s are also seperated into colors: Green glass (e.g. wine bottles), brown glass (e.g. spice- or medicine-bottles) and white glass (the most common, the transparent one). So all in all: - Restmüll ("Residual waste", the black ton = Trash) - Gelber Sack ("Yellow bag" = Recycling) - Blaue Tonne ("Blue ton" = Paper) - Biotonne ("Bio ton" (brown) = Organic waste) - Altglas (Glass for containers: White, green and brown) - Altkleider (Textiles for containers) - Sperrmüll ("Bulky waste" E.g. furniture. You can call "Sperrmüll" twice a year for free online or via phone, so you just have to put it on the street and they'll come and dispose it) - Schrott ("Scrap metal" and also electronic waste, for special centers) - Special waste (eg. batteries thrown away in supermarkets or used oil for special centers or shops) As far as I experienced, nearly EVERY German household try to separate there trash this way as far as possible. (Some can't, because they live in a city or residential complex, that don't have seperate waste). It is strange, if someone don't do it or don't bother.

Three different garbage cans are the most common in Germany: Paper, packaging waste (something like yoghurt pots, tins, etc.) and residual waste. You don't need the organic waste garbage can if you have your own compost heap on your property. And yes, this is checked by the waste disposal company. Small side fact: The disposal of packaging waste and paper is free of charge. You only pay for the disposal of organic waste and residual waste. The price is based on the size of the garbage can you ordered (NOT the weight). So whether you put a half-full or overfull garbage can on the street makes no difference to the price. In theory, the waste disposal company is allowed to leave garbage cans standing if they are so full that the lid remains open. In practice, however, this happens very rarely and only if the garbage can is regularly overfilled. If you realize that you can no longer cope with the size of the garbage can, you can have a new garbage can delivered by the waste disposal company for a one-off flat rate. They will then take the other garbage can with them. If you need more space at short notice or just once, you can buy bin liners directly from the waste disposal company, which you can then place next to the garbage can. Other waste that is placed next to the garbage cans does not have to be taken away by the waste disposal company. However, all these things vary slightly from district to district. The colors of the garbage cans are also not the same throughout Germany.

"Ah nice a Ryan Video to watch during Lunch break." °*starts talking about waste and poop*° Well there goes my appetite xD

I had the same kind of discussion with my host family when I came to the US in 1977. It was never available and legal in Europe.

Garbage disposal unit are not generally prohibited in the EU, but they have to get approved by national and/or local authorities - they are only allowed if approved. In Germany the responsibility whether to allow them or not is given to the municipalities respectively to their water and sewage authorities. Currently I don't know about any municipality allowing them. In Austria they are forbidden by national law, as well as in Switzerland. Different reasons are provided for a prohibition: It can complicate the handling of sewage (in treatment plants as well as regarding the pipes), and while most people would use it only for organic wastes (which would reduce this problem), it allows also for the disposal of paper, plastic (bags) and other material which should not get into sewage (and is according to studies often used so, e.g. disposing plastic bags which did hold food before). It is also considered unhygienic: The scent of organic waste in the sewage could also attract rats, who then climb in the pipes and could dive through the syphon tube in the toilet to enter the house. Additionally most towns and cities have nowadays separate systems for the disposal of organic waste, and to work efficiently, organic waste should exclusively dispose by those systems (except if used for composting in the own garden).

1:46 It's okay! I mean, the channel is (also) about cultural differences. And we're watching it because we're interested in that sort of thing :-)

In Germany you must have at least 4 or 5 (depends on the region you live in) different trash bins. In the town I live in, you must have 4 different. One is to collect organic waste like from the kitchen or from the garden. This one will be emptied everey 2 two weeks. The second is for paper and cardboards, emptied every four weeks. Unlike the others, this paper/cardboard bin is for free. Third one collects waste to be recycled, also emptied every four weeks, and the fourth one is to collect every other kind of waste, that doesn't fit into the first three kind of waste, except glas. Glas has to be dumped into public glas containers which are provided in specific places and there you have to separate white (clear) glas from colored glas.

I don't know anyone in Europe who uses garbage disposals. The reason I was giving was partially "think of the people who have to clean the sewers", but mostly "you will clog your pipes if you flush that undigested starch and fat down a narrow sink drain, as opposed to a larger toilet drain". The landlord to the office building I work at in Germany had a galaxy brain moment and put four separate toilets and four sinks on one single sink drain to "comply" with building codes. For mysterious reasons no one could have possibly foreseen, those toilets have the plumber called for blockages at least twice a year. They are also plastered with signs to flush nothing but human waste and the absolute minimum of TP down them. They use flushes with the maximum amount of water when pressed. My parents have a similar issue with their downstairs toilet, something to do with the incline of the drain pipe backing up if anything non-liquid comes from that toilet, so they do have a garbage disposal... On their toilet. And it's really wimpy, so it'll burn out if you run anything but human waste and TP through it. They warn visitors about the limitations, but sometimes forget to mention that the toilet will whirr and growl as if something absolutely horrific is about to happen each time you flush. You need a significant amount of brand name cookies and excellent coffee to make a heating technician forget about that kind of oversight, I promise you. So they do exist... But almost no one is using them unless they absolutely have to. And even then, they sometimes don't.

FUN STORY in 2004 i was in 8th gtade in biologie class we learned about recycling and stuff also in chemical class we made a project in groups of 5 people i wrote my homework and stuff on my computer at home, and printed the project paper, after i gave out one paper with all group member names the teacher told me, she needs one paper per person she wanted me to print the paper 5 times, would correct one of them, and then we would to give her the updated paper 5 times again, till it was good enough it was the same teacher for both classes, and i told her thats wasteing ressources and totaly dump she didnt care

And Kinder Eggs are illegal in the US.

The reason why these garbage disposals are illegal in Germany are not the rodents in the canalisation but the organic mass acts as fertilizer for waterorganisms to the point where the avaible oxygen in the water gets depleted by their increased demand. This gets further amplifified by the fact that any organic mass not used will need additional oxygen for decomposing, including dead waterorganisms. This will spirale until all avaible oxygen is used up by decomposing organic mass and the body of water is not longer aible to sustain any kind of live. Especialy for small rivers and lakes this is a major concern. To remove this orgnic material from the sewage water is possible butt demands a lot of energy and huge, factory sized, specialised bio reactors to do it in a reasonable time. Which would blow the monetary demand for water treatment sky high. Po and pees are much easier to remove in comoarision, because the bacteria used in conventional water treatment are specialised in the removal of both. If you want to know more about this topic and have are able to read german I recommend an average german school book about water ecology

most communes have something like "Der Anschluss von Zerkleinerungsgeräten für Küchenabfälle, Müll, Damenbinden usw. sowie Handtuchspendern mit Spülvorrichtung ist unzulässig." in their Abwassersatzung here in germany

Garbage disposals are great until your kid sticks its hand in it. Look mama, no fingers.

Well this is an interesting device, but to my mind redundant. We seperat our waste in Germany in 4 groups: paper, biological, plastic and the rest. Furthermore we return glas bottles with deposit to grocery stores and get back 25 cents each and dispose bottles without deposit in containers which are placed everywhere especially near grocery stores or fuel stations. For chemicals and colors twice a year a special truck is coming into our village. Batteries can be brought back to the shop you bought it in. Back to the garbage disposal. I am sure that this could choke the drainpipe after a certain time.

I think the biggest issue is putting fat down the drainage system, sewers can get clogged up with "fat bergs" which have to be manually broken up and cleared, not a pleasant job i think you'll agree. Here in the UK we have separate food waste bins collected every fortnight by the local authority. It is then turned into compost and so re-cycled.

Sewage waste is treated in various ways, in the UK liquid waste is treated and returned to the drinking water. Food waste in the sewage makes it harder and more expensive to treat the waste.

Advantages of this flush garbage disposal/shredder is that it is convenient. The disadvantages are that an additional electrical consumer is installed. it is a wearing part that requires maintenance. Additionally will Food for rats is produced in the sewers.

There is no national ban in Germany, but most local authorities prohibit the discharge of kitchen waste, even in shredded form, in their drainage bylaws.

I am from Denmark and here all households sort their waste into 8-10 different categories. Drinking water and sewage are two different systems that do not get mixed up. Garbage disposals are allowed in some municipalities in Denmark, but you must apply for permission before installing one.

Yes, a regular household has 4 bins, recycling , paper, bio, trash, maybe even a compost. But there are more bins in community spaces. For big paper, glass (seperated by colour) batterys, electrics and Sperrmüll (big zhings or furniture) so basically everything you are not allowed to throw in the trashCan

There are some things that are just not common. But that can also change. I am 42 years old and in my childhood NO ONE had a dryer. My mother had 5 children and line dried every piece of laundry including cloth diapers for the first 3 or 4 children. I know she did use disposable diapers with my little brother. But I must say, most people I knew had a laundry drying room/space inside the house for bad weather or winter. We had a huge insulated attic werey mother hung the laundry. But nowadays many people do have dryers. It did change a lot in the recent years. Maybe the same will happen with garbage disposals?

Hi from germany, if you by one of this in germany people would think you are crazy, many people make fun about American Things like this, becouse there is no other country where this is normal

Greetings from Germany,. It dosen't bother me if it is illegal or not. It makes no sense to me to use a garbage disposal, because leftover food is wiped off and thrown into the organic waste, and the plates then go into the dishwasher. The plates are not pre-washed, which would be an unnecessary waste of water. And when I think of old houses and buildings, the sink drain pipes in the walls can be quite narrow. If food residue has to go through it, it can quickly build up on the pipes and lead to blocked pipes in the long run. Especially if there are fatty leftovers, as fat in the water can become hard again when it cools down.

It's "bad" for the water in the sense that you're not allowed to mix sewage and waste, and the facilities working the water later are not equipped to filter mass amounts of waste, they're specially aimed at sewage treatment, not general waste. Plus pests are attracted by food waste, and it's just more material that adds to the sewers that already have to deal with being plugged from people flushing things they're not supposed to, fatbergs, etc.

I hope you google what fat from food does to the sewer system and pipes. There was a case in London (or was it new York?) where a restaurant disposed of so much fatty food that they clogged a whole part of the sewer system. Not a pipe but the part you can almost walk upright. I'm composting most of the food that is good for composting. Getting good fertilizer for my vegetables. The other part is simply used for energy by creating methane. For me thats another thing of "US American convenience". All the convenient parking lots and gigantic streets that make the US cities scorching hot in summer. No trees, no green. It's just two things but all in all the whole mindset of conserving nature, recycling, being mindful of how new inventions are being used is just a mindset that makes living somehow more "natural". It's another form of convenient.

That one guy mentioning the Wikipedia article missed this one: 🇩🇪 "Es gibt in Deutschland kein nationales Verbot, die meisten Kommunen verbieten aber die Einleitung von Küchenabfällen, auch in zerkleinerter Form, in ihren Entwässerungssatzungen." 🇬🇧 "There is no national ban (for garbage disposals) in Germany but most municipalities prohibit the discharge of kitchen waste even in shredded form in their sewage regulations."

When I lived in the US, I loved it till I realised that you turn a waste problem into a water problem. It might be ok if the waste water treatment plants are efficient and large enough to treat masses of solids plus any toxic stuff which people tend to illegally dispose of like plastics, oil, prescriptions, maybe even discard batteries. The worst thing that could happen is that this obnoxious stuff gets let into rivers or the ocean. Therefore separate your wastes and reduce your food wastes by eating your food before you have to throw it away

To be fair, the Biotonne can get quite disgusting in the summer. When you have to open it on a hot summer day, you are greeted by a wriggling mass of maggots and flies. And they are a mess to clean after disposal day. That's when the convention of aprtment owners in my house decided to have everything you thow in there has to be neatly wrapped in newspaper some 15 years ago. If you own a house, people tend to also have a garden and usually keep a compost heap for all the biodegradables. You have your own fertilizer handy.

In Germany there is a law that says you need to drive your bike on one side and if you want to go to the other side you need to change sidewalks and the police will accualy stop Fine you and enforce the law

Here in Australia we have general waste bins, recycling bins and green waste bins for all residences. Some councils fine you for mixing up the waste

Actually, there are 5 types of bins. Brown bins are for biodegradable waste, yellow bins are for plastics and other similar materials, blue bins are for paper, green bins are designated for glass bottles, and black bins are for all other types of waste. It's worth noting that the green glass bins are further divided to accommodate different colors of glass: white, green, and brown. These glass bins aren't typically located directly next to houses or apartments; rather, they're placed every few blocks. The black bins are generally used for waste that will be incinerated to generate electicity and remote heating source for homes (Fernwärme), while the contents of the other bins are recycled. If you include the different categories for glass, there are a total of 7 distinct types of waste containers.

I have six collection containers in the household. One for deposit bottles, one for disposable glass for recycling, one for paper, one for plastic and sheet metal, one for organic waste and one for residual waste. Leftover food that cannot be used organically also ends up there

"I throw all my food waste into the garbage disposal" "Those rat infestation is horrible!"

I can tell about bins in Poland, and it's similar to Germany. So, I have bins for bio, rest and glass. Plastic and paper, you can put in bigger plastic bags (made of recycled material, quite often eco-friendly). Families using pellet and eco-pea stoves, have in addition bin for the soot. Answering your question (around 9:55)- yes, people owning a house in the EU (I assume it's the common policy), do have as many bins as needed.

9:38 The brown bin = organic waste The Black bin = residual waste The yellow bin = packaging waste (aluminum, cans, plastic) The blue/ green bin = paper, cardboard and there are still glass and old clothes collection containers scattered around the city

In newer apartments in Stockholm Sweden, there are garbage disposals. They’re directly connected to a separate sewer system that goes to a bio-gas generating plant. For other residents and the suburbs it’s like the German way, with separated bins. We use the bio-gas to run the local commuter buses instead of diesel fuel. This has been in effect since at least the early 90’s.

9:55 Most homes have two bins (packaging & general trash). Trash collection is done on the local level, so some municipalities may have other bins compulsary, like the organic waste bin. In my home town paper bins are something you CAN get for an extra fee, but most folks use public paper waste containers. So two to four is very common. A lot of other waste disposal is done at municipality-owned recycling facilities where you can bring stuff like lamps, batteries, old electronics, or so-called bulky waste, like old mattresses, furniture, etc (though municipalities also typically offer curbside collection services for that).

I only knew about garbage disposals because as a kid I used to play my disney kitchen but never saw one in real😂😂. I always loved the fact that I could throw anything in the sink and turn the garbage disposal on. I was so satisfied to hear my burnt food getting shredded and then flushed away.😂😂

One of your best videos ever. :D May be in Germany it's the same like "Use vacuum cleaner with 500 Wats, only to safe energy": "Don't waste energy for shredding garbage down the drain. Simply throw it away and feed the bio energy plant of the community, to make energy out of your garbage." To the different bins: Here in Germany for larger houses where many families live you will find: Bio, Restmüll, White Glass, Colored Glas, Paper and Plastics/Metals. For Electronics and other harmful or toxic stuff (like machine oils or gasoline and so on) or large waste (like a couch or other furniture) there are places (ran by the community) where you have to bring your stuff to. If you through it somewhere else you have to pay a fine. In areas with smaller houses you offently find a certain place for glass and sometimes paper. So the single households have to separate plastics/metals from Bio from Restmüll only.

germany usually has 4 bins plus a bucket for glass actually! bio: any organic waste that will be turned into compost or used for gas production paper: self-explanatory lol anything paper and cardboard gelbe tonne/gelber sack: recycling waste like tins or plastic packaging (and i mean ONLY packaging, anything else made from plastic like toys or similar is not supposed to go in here, probably because it's a different kind of plastic) glass bucket: not one of those huge buns, but more bucket-sized for jars or empty bottles, or sometimes there are huge bins scattered around the city where people can get rid of their bottles and glass jars instead restmüll: literally the rest, anything that doesn't go in any of the bins above goes in here, as long as it can be burned (except for hazardous waste or batteries, electronics or similar, or anything that's just too big to fit in a bin) and then there's also sperrmüll where you can have your big electronics or furniture picked up, in my area you can get that done for free twice a year. there's also a recycling yard where you can bring anything else you'd want to dispose of, like hedge trimmings or hazardous waste. you can also give your broken electronics back to the stores you bought them from so they can handle the disposal or recycling, and you can return empty batteries to any places that sells batteries. there's so much going on here in germany regarding waste disposal that i definitely didn't list all, but that's all the stuff you'd use the most in everyday life, i guess

9:28: It is (from left to right): organic waste, general waste, recycling, paper. But keep in mind that glass, electronic waste, batteries and bulky waste are collected separately. They are not regularly picked up, but you rather have to bring them to the collecting points yourself or make a special appointment with the municipality to get it picked up.

❗️You just found the second German household that had a garbage disposal! Listening to you about your fear as a kid I somehow remembered how my Dad always told my sister and me to NEVER put our fingers in the drain of the kitchen sink and it got me curious. So I just called my Dad up and he confirmed that we had one in my parents house, built in the 80s. I just didn‘t remember because it went kaput a long time ago and my Dad was too much of a cheapskate to have it repaired and removed it instead. 😂