Postponing deposit return scheme ignores society's call and is a bad thing for the environment

The decision of the Rutte government to postpone the expansion of deposit return schemes is bad news for the environment. Furthermore, the postponement ignores the call of more than 200 municipalities to expand deposits this year. The industry's methods to reduce litter do not lead to results. They only lead to the deposit scheme being blocked. This is what the environmental organisations Recycling Netwerk, Greenpeace Netherlands, Plastic Soup Foundation and North Sea Foundation (Stichting De Noordzee) said in response to the letter from the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management to the House of Representatives about litter and deposits.

Director Rob Buurman responds to State Secretary Stientje Van Veldhoven.

“Three years of delay means millions of extra bottles and caps in the environment contributing to the global plastic soup before deposit return schemes might be expanded. The government's decision disappoints us”, the environmental organisations Recycling Netwerk, Greenpeace Netherlands, Plastic Soup Foundation and North Sea Foundation said in a joint statement on Saturday morning.

An overwhelming majority of 80 percent of the Dutch population requests the expansion of deposit return schemes to all bottles and cans. Among CDA voters, 83% support its expansion, and for VVD voters, this is 79%. For D66, the party of State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven, 85% of voters want deposits expanded to plastic bottles and cans. This was revealed on Friday by a GfK study.

The packaging sector's communication campaigns have been running for decades, but they have not cleaned up our streets and beaches. In 2002, the business community thwarted the expansion of deposit return schemes by promising to reduce bottles and cans in litter by 80% within 3 years. The target was never met, yet deposit return schemes were not introduced. Now, sixteen years later, history threatens to repeat itself: postponement and thus cancellation.

Watch Radar's report on supermarket lobbying here

We know that the deposit system does work. There is proof of this in Scandinavia and Germany. More than 200 municipalities have also reached this conclusion themselves and joined the deposit alliance. The farmers' and fishers' federations are in favour. And 80 percent of the population also supports this. “It cannot be explained to the public that a simple environmental measure supported by 80 percent of the Dutch population and more than 200 municipalities is being postponed,” say the environmental organisations.

Interests of agriculture, fisheries and municipalities

Furthermore, the letter from the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management remains completely silent on cans. Half-measures carry great risks. There will be no solution for cans in nature, nor a solution for livestock farmers whose cows get razor-sharp pieces of can in their stomachs. However, the discussion about expanding deposits to cans is not going away. Last week, LTO Nederland linked up with the Deposit Alliance. VisNed also pleaded last week for the expansion of deposits in the interest of a clean sea.

Thousands of cows dead due to litter. The full report by EenVandaag.

Meanwhile, municipalities continue to 'mop with the tap running'. The fight against litter costs them around 250 million euros in taxpayers' money per year. A deposit on all bottles and cans would reduce their presence in nature by 70 to 90 percent in volume.  More than 200 Dutch municipalities became partners of the Deposit Alliance, requesting that deposit return schemes be expanded this year.

House of Representatives

The Rutte III cabinet promised to be the greenest cabinet ever, but seems unlikely to deliver on this in the area of circular economy and deposit return schemes.

The environmental organisations hope that on 15 March, the House of Representatives will push for the immediate expansion of deposit return schemes to all bottles and cans. “It is very important that we and the government take further steps on the path that does work, the path of deposit return. That is why The Hague, government and House of Representatives, must take concrete steps very quickly on the path to expanding deposit schemes to all bottles and cans,” conclude Recycling Netwerk, Greenpeace Netherlands, Plastic Soup Foundation and North Sea Foundation.

Recycling Netwerk Rob Buurman, director +31 6 16401040. Tom Zoete, communication +31 616 10 10 50

Greenpeace Netherlands contact person Meike Rijksen, campaign leader: +31639201986

Plastic Soup Foundation contact person Jeroen Dagevos, +31 6 46 83 78 86

North Sea Foundation contact person Marijke Boonstra, project leader Clean Sea: +31 6 34401874

Read also: NOS, Deposits on PET bottles from 2021, unless industry recycles more, 9 March 2018