Press release

The “Donate Your Deposit” campaign raised 650,000 euros   
The Airport Company has been supporting the Berliner Tafel food bank for five years 
 

Where should you dispose of water bottles before boarding your flight? For five years, since May 2017, passengers have been able to donate their bottle deposits for a good cause: the “Donate Your Deposit” campaign started at what was then Tegel Airport and was then extended to Schönefeld Airport. The collection containers have been in the terminals at Berlin Brandenburg Airport since October 2020. So far, deposits worth around 650,000 euros have been collected at all three airports. The money was donated exclusively to the Berliner Tafel food bank.

“Donate Your Deposit” is a partnership between the Green Dot, the educational and employment agency Goldnetz gGmbH, Berliner Tafel e.V. and Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH. A dozen collection containers bearing the appeal “Donate Your Deposit” are located in Terminals 1 and 2 of BER Airport, directly in front of the security checkpoints. Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the associated drastic decline in passenger numbers, around 50,000 euros have been collected for Berliner Tafel since the opening of BER.

  So-called “deposit commissioners” from Goldnetz gGmbH empty and clean the bins and sort the empties. This has led to the creation of 23 jobs for the long-term unemployed. The Green Dot oversees the logistics, that is, it takes care of the transport and recycling of the bottles and collects the deposit money. Since 2019, Coca-Cola GmbH has participated in the project by making an annual donation of 30,000 euros.

A total of around 2.6 million deposit bottles have been collected and recycled over the past five years. 

Michael Halberstadt, HR Manager at Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “The large number of donations shows that even small gestures from our passengers can make a big difference. The Donate Your Deposit campaign is also being successfully implemented at BER Airport. We’re pleased that despite reduced air traffic during the pandemic, we’ve still managed to raise a sum of 50,000 euros since the opening. Help for people in desperate situations is very important, especially in such difficult times.”

Sabine Werth, Founder & Chairwoman of Berliner Tafel e.V.: “The Donate Your Deposit campaign perfectly combines sustainability and social commitment. It is a wonderful project that helps us provide food to well over 130,000 people in need every month. Many thanks to all of our cooperation partners!”

Karin Pfluger, CEO of Goldnetz gGmbH: “I am particularly pleased that the initiative has created long-term jobs for people who are having a hard time on the job market. This offers them security and a future. At the same time, we also support the commitment of Berliner Tafel for those in need.” 

Nicole Ebach, “Donate Your Deposit” Project Head, The Green Point: “Everything about the Donate Your Deposit campaign is just so right: without exception all of the deposit money collected goes to an important cause, in addition we save valuable plastic packaging for recycling, while creating many important jobs. We at the Green Dot are very proud to be part of this project.”