Is it all garbage anyway?

How to properly dispose of our packaging!

How to become a recycling pro with Hartkorn How to hausmüll

Incinerable waste, organic waste, recyclables, or paper bin? Do you also sometimes stand clueless in front of your household waste, wondering which item belongs in which bin? How to properly separate the garbage and correctly dispose of food packaging? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! And so that you never have to ask yourself this question again with our spice packaging, we provide you with Hartkorn How to Hausmüll, a guide that clears up all doubts!

Spice Shakers – The Classics in the Aluminum Can

Small, colorful, and quite practical! The aluminum can is the absolute classic among Hartkorn spice shakers – after all, it has been part of our range since 1979. But where to put the shaker when pepper and salt, thyme, or Magic Spice are used up? We’d be happy to explain:

Ideally, you separate the plastic lid, including the sieve insert, from the aluminum can. We must admit that this can be a little tricky.
Remove the label from the can.
Simply throw both the lid and the label, along with the can, into the recyclable waste bin. Why both components end up in the same bin in the end and why that also makes sense will be explained in the FAQs.

Would you have known: Aluminum can be recycled really well and even multiple times – without any loss of quality!

Young Kitchen – The Young Wild Ones in Paper and Cork

Young Kitchen stands for exciting spice blends and absolute trendy dishes – but also for innovative and environmentally friendly packaging. Safely stored in a paper spice jar and sealed with a cork lid, the spices in this line guarantee lots of fun in the kitchen, no matter how good of a cook you are. But where should the empty jar go after you’ve used up the pepper and salt, thyme, or Magic Spice? Let us explain:

Separate the cork lid and the paper wrap jar.
As it is a genuine natural product, you can dispose of the cork lid without any worries in the organic waste. Alternatively, you can take it to a cork collection point.
The spice jar, along with the paper label, goes into the paper recycling. From there, it can embark on a new life.

Gourmet Spices – The Exquisite Ones in Glass

Spice enjoyment in glass, that’s what Hartkorn Gourmet Spices offer you. In addition to freeze-dried herbs, you can also find real specialties like cubeb pepper or Kampot pepper and truffle salt. But how do you dispose of the gourmet jars properly once you’ve used up the last crumb of your favorite spice for cooking? Here’s how:

Separate the lid from the glass.
As the lid consists of aluminum and has a plastic insert (EPE), you can conveniently dispose of it in the recyclable waste bin.
The glass belongs in the appropriate glass container. So, take it with you the next time you go to the glass recycling. Make sure to dispose of glass in the right container because, as with everything else, proper separation is half recycled.

You should know that with separate disposal of glass and lid, the recyclability of gourmet jars is nearly 100%. It’s worth the minimal effort, isn’t it?

Shake’n Grill – The Grill Highlights in a Tin Can

Fish, meat, or vegetables – what do you prefer to put on the grill? It doesn’t matter because with Shake’n Grill blends, you’ll always be on point! And as delicious as these grill spices are, their packaging made of tinplate is just as easy to dispose of.

You don’t need to separate or sort anything. The whole can simply goes into your domestic recyclable waste bin. From there, it sets off on an eternal cycle of recycling.

With a recyclability rate of around 98%, the Shake ‘n Grill can is a real hit when it comes to sustainability.

Spice Mills – The Flavor Wonders with a Twist

Let’s twist: In our range, you’ll find three different spice mills. Firstly, there’s the smaller Grind’n Spice mill, then the larger Twist’n Spice spice mill, and lastly, the Bio-Mills. What sets them apart and how you can dispose of these food containers properly, we’ll explain to you gladly.

Grind‘n Spice

Super handy and perfect for on the go, the Grind’n Spice mills are a practical eye-catcher. But what do you do when it’s all ground up? Since the Grind’n Spice mill is a disposable mill, it now makes its way into the dual system.

You unscrew the grinder, including the plastic lid, and separate it from the glass body. The lid goes into the recyclable waste bin.
You take the glass with you the next time you go to the glass container and dispose of it there. And here, too, proper separation is half recycled.

Twist’n Spice

Nothing beats freshly ground spices, right? With our Twist’n Spice mills, you can do just that in a snap, and these practical mills look chic too. And although this section is about household waste and proper disposal of our packaging material, we’d like to give you a heads up that the Twist’n Spice mills are not meant to end up in the bin when empty. Thanks to their high-quality ceramic grinder, they are meant to make many more turns.

Bio-Mühlen

Bio spice enjoyment fresh from the mill? No problem! Our bio mills made of glass and wood provide pure taste with every turn, and they’re built to last. But what can you do when your spice is used up? For household waste, our bio mill is definitely too good!

So simply and conveniently refill it with our organic spices from the paper can.

Bio Spices – The Sustainable Ones in Paper, Ceramic, and Cork

Ceramic Pot

Are you looking for great spices in an elegant packaging that also has a regional origin? Quite a lot of demands all at once, right? Not a problem for us!

We’ll even top it off: The Hartkorn spices in the ceramic pots from the Westerwald are almost all of organic quality as well. Thanks to the environmentally friendly cork stopper, they are also securely sealed.

And that’s not all. When the fancy pots are empty, you don’t have to dispose of them. It’s much easier to simply refill them with the organic spices from our paper cans.

Bio-Pappdose

Just like in the Young Kitchen range, the environmentally friendly paper wrap can with a cork lid ensures that our spices are well preserved and protected in our Bio line. Little bonus: the cans also look really chic! But what do you do when your favorite spice is used up? Now, quite simply:

Separate the cork lid and the paper can.
As it is a genuine natural product, you can dispose of the cork lid without any worries in the organic waste. Alternatively, you can take it to the nearest cork collection point.
The spice can, along with the paper label, goes into the paper recycling. From there, it can also set off on a new life.

And if you’re wondering whether there really is such a big difference if you separate the lid and paper can from each other, then the answer is clear: YES! With this type of packaging, separating increases the recyclability by around 40%, resulting in a recycling rate of about 95%. A convincing argument, isn’t it?

Spice Bags – The Practical Refill Option in Paper and Plastic

Refill Bag

What? The mill is empty again, or the spices from the ceramic pot are used up faster than you could blink? Then the practical refill bags are just right! After all, some of our packaging is far too valuable to simply end up in household waste. But where to put the stand-up bags once the spices have been refilled and used up again? You can easily dispose of the food packaging in your recyclable waste bin.

Flat Bag

Light- and aroma-protected, the Hartkorn flat bags offer practically portioned classics like nutmeg, our gingerbread spice, or suitable spice blends for baking bread. Once the bag is empty, it simply goes into your recyclable waste bin.

If you want to know why we switched from a composite of plastic film and aluminum to using only plastic film and how that’s a real plus in terms of recyclability, feel free to check out the FAQ.

How to Hausmüll - wir brauchen deine Hilfe Bild

Now you have received a good overview of which of our spice packagings deserve a long life in your kitchen and which need to be disposed of as household waste. But there is something else that is particularly important to us at this point:

In order for our packagings to be recycled as effectively as possible, we need your help!

Only if you join in and separate the lids, mills, and jars correctly, they will have the best chance of being properly and environmentally friendly processed.

And if you still can’t get enough and want to learn more about our packagings, if you want us to answer questions about the disposal of food packagings, or if you have become a true recycling fan, then take a look at our How-to-Household-Waste FAQ.

FAQ

Why is good packaging so important for spices?

You have probably already come across the notice: “Store products in a dark, cool, and dry place.” This also applies to our herbs, spices, and spice blends. And as you might already suspect, appropriate food packaging plays an important role in this context.

Especially water and any form of moisture can pose a real danger to our dry natural products. Not only because they might clump together – which alone would be annoying enough – but primarily because mold could develop.

Even if we don’t want to assume the worst right away, our spice shakers, paper cans, ceramic pots, spice bags, and mills play an important role as well. They prevent our herbs and spices from being exposed to too much light and releasing their own aroma into the environment or absorbing other aromas, so-called foreign or off-flavors.

Just imagine, you store a strong-smelling spice like garlic openly or improperly in close proximity to a more delicate herb like basil… you can already guess. Eventually, your basil will come with a strong garlic smell. Not so pleasant! Unless you’re such a big garlic fan that everything tasting like garlic is best for you. But let’s be honest, that’s more of a minority.

Furthermore, our packaging ensures that the spices retain their color, and essential oils stay where they belong, without transferring from the herbs into the packaging. For example, turmeric tends to lose its typical bright yellow color, paprika fades faster than you would like if not properly packed, and cloves are rich in essential oils.

This is where the specially selected materials come into play. For example, you’ll find a special barrier layer in the paper can and spice bags. The mills with glass bodies already have particularly good barrier properties on their own.

Last but not least, our packaging, with the label attached to it, provides the necessary space for all legal information and details that we are obliged to provide.

Why should I separate the components of the packaging in the first place? Everything ends up in the same bin anyway.

You may wonder why you should, for example, separate the aluminum can and its lid when both end up in the same trash bin in the end? There is indeed a good and simple reason for this. After the spice packagings are disposed of by you, they eventually end up in the sorting facilities of the dual systems. There, the waste is assigned to different material categories. For instance, if our aluminum can is still connected to the plastic lid in the facility, both components of the packaging will inevitably be assigned to one category – even though aluminum and plastic should ideally be sorted into two different fractions to be efficiently recycled further.

How do secure food packaging contribute to conserving resources?

On the one hand, we pay attention to using the most sustainable materials for our spice packagings, or making them as recyclable as possible. This results in a reduced need for raw materials. On the other hand, secure packaging reduces food waste: When spices are stored securely, you can enjoy them for a longer time, reducing the amount of wasted food.

Are the spices adequately protected in the paper can?

Yes. Okay, this answer is correct, but you probably wanted a more detailed explanation. So, let’s go: If you take a closer look at our paper cans, you will probably notice that there is a coating on the inside – exactly where the herbs and spices come into contact with the packaging. This coating is very thin to maintain the can’s environmental friendliness, but it is sufficient to protect the products from moisture, light, and external aromas. And, of course, it is also responsible for keeping the flavors of our herbs, spices, and blends where they belong – inside the paper can.

Why don't you use recycled aluminum for your spice shakers?

The correct answer is: not yet! Stagnation is not our style. We are always striving to evolve – even when it comes to our packaging. That’s why we are already in the starting blocks to use aluminum cans made from recycled aluminum. However, before we can make the switch, we need to use up the current stock of existing cans for filling our spices.

Why does the new packaging for the flat bags consist of plastic?

Perhaps you have already noticed that our flat bags look and feel slightly different recently. That’s because we have made some adjustments to this food packaging as part of an optimization process. The bags are no longer made of a composite of plastic film and aluminum but now consist of a pure plastic film. Even though it may not seem so at first glance, and plastic still has a somewhat negative reputation in many minds when it comes to thinking environmentally friendly and sustainable, it’s worth taking a closer look.

In the case of our flat bags, the material provides excellent barrier properties that effectively protect our herbs and spices.

Furthermore, with the new flat bags’ film, we are using a single material for the packaging. This makes them recyclable, which was not the case with the composite of film and aluminum.

And even though the journey to this new packaging was not always easy, and we had to conduct numerous tests and modify our production facilities to process the film optimally, we can draw a clear conclusion: It was worth it!

For us, the new flat bags are proof that it pays off to stay on the ball and continuously optimize our food packaging, make them more sustainable, and keep the environment in mind.