1 year after the Rutte government's deposit-return decision

A year ago, the Rutte government responded to the growing demand to introduce deposits on bottles and cans. For plastic bottles, the Dutch government gave the industry another two years' delay. To get cans out of litter, absolutely nothing has happened yet.

This afternoon, the General Consultation on circular economy discusses the deposit dossier in the House of Representatives.

Watch the debate in the House of Representatives live here.

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) declared on 10 March 2018 that she will check in 2020 whether the business community manages to recycle 90 per cent of plastic bottles and reduce the volume of plastic bottles in litter by 70 to 90 per cent. If not, she will decide to effectively apply the deposit on small plastic bottles in the spring of 2021.

Plastic bottles

The so-called "Plastic Pact", which the State Secretary proposed at the end of February, focuses on improving recycling. But it is not a solution for litter or plastic soup. Concrete measures that help to bring down litter and the plastic soup have not yet been introduced. The word deposit does not even appear in the entire pact.

On 4 March, the deposit on plastic bottles smaller than 1 litre came one step closer. State Secretary van Veldhoven published the draft regulations for the introduction of deposits. The draft regulations anchor the goal of 90 per cent recycling of all plastic drinks bottles in the law. That helps to achieve collection and recycling at a high level. But it cannot be the case that the take-back obligation for supermarkets and large sales outlets disappears from the law. That opens the door to frustrating the introduction of deposits.

It is also not good that the current packaging decree is limited in scope. Within current regulations, it is still possible to easily decide on deposits on new beverage packaging such as cans. However, the new legislative proposal makes it more difficult to introduce cans or other beverage packaging in the future. Meanwhile, 95 per cent of municipalities and 79 per cent of the Dutch support deposits, not only on plastic bottles but also on cans.

The position paper (PDF) of environmental organisations Recycling Netwerk, Natuur & Milieu, Plastic Soup Foundation, the Plastic Soup Surfer, Stichting De Noordzee and Greenpeace describes our criticisms of the draft regulations in more detail.

Drinks cans

The government has not yet taken any stand at all on cans, while there are even more cans than plastic bottles in the streets. Moreover, cans in litter pose a great danger to cows. Nevertheless, the House of Representatives unanimously voted in favour of the motion by CU, D66, CDA and VVD requesting the government to agree with the business community and municipalities on an action plan and reduction target for cans in 2020.

In a letter dated 3 July 2018, Van Veldhoven indicates that she has asked VNG and Stichting Afvalfonds Verpakkingen to make a proposal for tackling cans in accordance with the motion. However, Afvalfonds and VNG have indicated that they see no merit in a separate approach for cans.

This means that the unanimously approved motion of the House of Representatives is not being implemented. The question of how the government and the State Secretary will deal with this is becoming increasingly urgent. Deposits would reduce the number of cans in litter by 70 to 90%. It is time for State Secretary Van Veldhoven to take the lead in this.

Europe takes the lead

Since the Dutch cabinet decision, faster and more decisive steps have been taken at the European level. The newly approved European Single-use plastics directive bans a range of disposable plastic products, mandates 90% separate collection of plastic bottles and makes producers of various types of single-use plastics (including plastic bottles) financially responsible for the clean-up costs of their waste.

These European decisions are the starting signal for a revolution in the plastic, drinks and supermarket industries. They must be implemented into the national law of all member states within two years. The requirement for 90% separate collection means that deposits will be introduced throughout Europe anyway in the coming years.

Support continues to grow

All twelve Dutch provinces, all 21 water boards, 95 per cent of Dutch municipalities and hundreds of organisations have meanwhile joined the Statiegeldalliantie. They demand the immediate introduction of deposits on plastic bottles and drinks cans, without further delay for the industry. Big names such as agricultural organisation LTO, multinational Ecover, supermarket Ekoplaza and ASN Bank have also become partners of the Statiegeldalliantie.

A year ago, the Rutte government responded to the growing demand to introduce deposits on bottles and cans. For plastic bottles, the Dutch government gave the industry another two years' delay. To get cans out of litter, absolutely nothing has happened yet.

This afternoon, the General Consultation on circular economy discusses the deposit dossier in the House of Representatives.

Watch the debate in the House of Representatives live here.

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) declared on 10 March 2018 that she will check in 2020 whether the business community manages to recycle 90 per cent of plastic bottles and reduce the volume of plastic bottles in litter by 70 to 90 per cent. If not, she will decide to effectively apply the deposit on small plastic bottles in the spring of 2021.

Plastic bottles

The so-called "Plastic Pact", which the State Secretary proposed at the end of February, focuses on improving recycling. But it is not a solution for litter or plastic soup. Concrete measures that help to bring down litter and the plastic soup have not yet been introduced. The word deposit does not even appear in the entire pact.

On 4 March, the deposit on plastic bottles smaller than 1 litre came one step closer. State Secretary van Veldhoven published the draft regulations for the introduction of deposits. The draft regulations anchor the goal of 90 per cent recycling of all plastic drinks bottles in the law. That helps to achieve collection and recycling at a high level. But it cannot be the case that the take-back obligation for supermarkets and large sales outlets disappears from the law. That opens the door to frustrating the introduction of deposits.

It is also not good that the current packaging decree is limited in scope. Within current regulations, it is still possible to easily decide on deposits on new beverage packaging such as cans. However, the new legislative proposal makes it more difficult to introduce cans or other beverage packaging in the future. Meanwhile, 95 per cent of municipalities and 79 per cent of the Dutch support deposits, not only on plastic bottles but also on cans.

The position paper (PDF) of environmental organisations Recycling Netwerk, Natuur & Milieu, Plastic Soup Foundation, the Plastic Soup Surfer, Stichting De Noordzee and Greenpeace describes our criticisms of the draft regulations in more detail.

Drinks cans

The government has not yet taken any stand at all on cans, while there are even more cans than plastic bottles in the streets. Moreover, cans in litter pose a great danger to cows. Nevertheless, the House of Representatives unanimously voted in favour of the motion by CU, D66, CDA and VVD requesting the government to agree with the business community and municipalities on an action plan and reduction target for cans in 2020.

In a letter dated 3 July 2018, Van Veldhoven indicates that she has asked VNG and Stichting Afvalfonds Verpakkingen to make a proposal for tackling cans in accordance with the motion. However, Afvalfonds and VNG have indicated that they see no merit in a separate approach for cans.

This means that the unanimously approved motion of the House of Representatives is not being implemented. The question of how the government and the State Secretary will deal with this is becoming increasingly urgent. Deposits would reduce the number of cans in litter by 70 to 90%. It is time for State Secretary Van Veldhoven to take the lead in this.

Europe takes the lead

Since the Dutch cabinet decision, faster and more decisive steps have been taken at the European level. The newly approved European Single-use plastics directive bans a range of disposable plastic products, mandates 90% separate collection of plastic bottles and makes producers of various types of single-use plastics (including plastic bottles) financially responsible for the clean-up costs of their waste.

These European decisions are the starting signal for a revolution in the plastic, drinks and supermarket industries. They must be implemented into the national law of all member states within two years. The requirement for 90% separate collection means that deposits will be introduced throughout Europe anyway in the coming years.

Support continues to grow

All twelve Dutch provinces, all 21 water boards, 95 per cent of Dutch municipalities and hundreds of organisations have meanwhile joined the Statiegeldalliantie. They demand the immediate introduction of deposits on plastic bottles and drinks cans, without further delay for the industry. Big names such as agricultural organisation LTO, multinational Ecover, supermarket Ekoplaza and ASN Bank have also become partners of the Statiegeldalliantie.