Drink cans, the silent cow killers

"43 cows killed by litter," Het Nieuwsblad headlined this month. What is going on? Barely three months after the establishment of the reporting point for hardware disease in cattle, Flemish livestock farmers have already reported dozens of dead cows. The competent Flemish official states that "the actual number of dead animals is (even) higher."

During mowing, cans are shredded in the mowing machine, thereby ending up in the animal feed. The pieces of tin cause small wounds in the cows' stomachs, which can lead to infections, illness and death.

Reporting point for hardware disease in cattle

The reporting point was set up by Flemish Minister of Environment, Nature and Agriculture Joke Schauvliege (CD&V). The minister made the decision under pressure from the media attention for the report on beverage cans and cattle mortality, which we published in February 2018. There were also parliamentary questions. 

If cans could kill

That report, "If cans could kill," concluded that in the Netherlands an estimated average of between 11,448 and 13,110 cows suffer from hardware disease injuries each year as a result of litter, of which between 3,813 (lower limit) and 4,244 (upper limit) cattle die annually, out of a total national population of 4.29 million cattle.

In Flanders, 5,152 to 6,227 cows fall ill each year due to litter, out of a total national population of 1.3 million cattle. With the necessary statistical caution, it can be estimated that between 2,051 (lower limit) and 2,474 (upper limit) cattle die from this in Flanders every year.

The results of the report received a lot of attention on the news programmes of EenVandaag, VTM Nieuws and Nieuwe Oogst, in the newspapers AD, Het Laatste Nieuws, Het Nieuwsblad, De Morgen, De Standaard, Gazet van Antwerpen and dozens of local media outlets.

Source: EenVandaag

Testimonials from livestock farmers and vets

More and more livestock farmers came forward with their stories. Farmers Paul Lassuyt and Marc Bonnaerens saw several dairy cows die in agony due to remnants of cans. They are therefore passionately advocating for the introduction of a deposit scheme. Among others, a farmer from Gelderland also sounded the alarm. He has already lost 10 cows due to pieces of aluminium cans in the feed. "A deposit scheme is urgently needed," he told Omroep Gelderland.

"Two cows on my brother's farm died last year after eating shreds of cans," says Tjalling de Wit from Ruinen, a council member for the CDA in De Wolden in the Dagblad van het Noorden. "Those cans are scattered around and are chopped into small pieces by mowing machines. A cow doesn't even notice eating them, they are so small. But they do cause the stomach of such a cow to be torn open." A painful death is the result. De Wit is therefore a fervent supporter of introducing a deposit on cans and bottles.

The Facebook post of livestock farmer Jacco Draaijer about his deceased cow also went viral. "She was dying in agony. It was as if a large knife was tearing through her stomachs and intestines. The stool was loose and pitch black, which indicates a lot of blood. I called the vet, but there was nothing more to be done. Within a few hours she had passed away," he said in the Leeuwarder Courant.

"The problems are growing," says Malda, a vet at Dierenkliniek Deventer to the Algemeen Dagblad. "Over the past four years, the number of animals with problems due to plastic or cans has risen. It now affects one in ten cows."

The only solution that the livestock farmers see themselves is a deposit scheme. After all, in countries with a deposit system, such as Germany, you find very few beverage cans in the fields. The deposit on beer bottles ensures that you see very few of them on the street. On the other hand, cans without a deposit are ubiquitous in litter.

Farmers' organisations in action

The largest farmers' union in the Netherlands, LTO, was shocked by the research and immediately joined the Deposit Alliance (Statiegeldalliantie), which is asking the Dutch and Belgian governments for a faster introduction of a deposit scheme on plastic bottles and beverage cans.

The Flemish farmers' organisation Algemeen Boerensyndicaat (ABS) also joined the Deposit Alliance and launched a poster campaign: "Politicians, stop pretending you don't know anything about it". The Algemeen Boerensyndicaat ABS was therefore disappointed that the Flemish government had not yet decided on a deposit scheme in its 'Summer Agreement'.

Belgium's largest farmers' organisation, the Boerenbond, is also advocating for the introduction of a deposit on beverage cans. The KVLV (Vrouwen met vaart) is also a member of the Deposit Alliance, partly out of concern about the effects of cans on cows.

The alliance between environmental organisations, municipalities and farmers' organisations is strongly stepping up pressure for the expansion of the deposit scheme, wrote Trouw. Recycling Netwerk and Greenpeace Netherlands made a joint appeal to the Rutte III government: "And don't forget all those cans

43 cows killed by litter, headlined Het Nieuwsblad this month. What is going on? Barely three months after the establishment of the reporting point for hardware disease in cattle, Flemish livestock farmers have already reported dozens of dead cows. The competent Flemish official states that "the actual number of dead animals is (even) higher."

During mowing, cans are shredded in the mowing machine, thereby ending up in the animal feed. The pieces of tin cause small wounds in the cows' stomachs, which can lead to infections, illness and death.

Reporting point for hardware disease in cattle

The reporting point was set up by Flemish Minister of Environment, Nature and Agriculture Joke Schauvliege (CD&V). The minister made the decision under pressure from the media attention for the report on beverage cans and cattle mortality, which we published in February 2018. There were also parliamentary questions.

If cans could kill

That report, "If cans could kill," concluded that in the Netherlands an estimated average of between 11,448 and 13,110 cows suffer from hardware disease injuries each year as a result of litter, of which between 3,813 (lower limit) and 4,244 (upper limit) cattle die annually, out of a total national population of 4.29 million cattle.

In Flanders, 5,152 to 6,227 cows fall ill each year due to litter, out of a total national population of 1.3 million cattle. With the necessary statistical caution, it can be estimated that between 2,051 (lower limit) and 2,474 (upper limit) cattle die from this in Flanders every year.

The results of the report received a lot of attention on the news programmes of EenVandaag, VTM Nieuws and Nieuwe Oogst, in the newspapers AD, Het Laatste Nieuws, Het Nieuwsblad, De Morgen, De Standaard, Gazet van Antwerpen and dozens of local media outlets.

Source: EenVandaag

Testimonials from livestock farmers and vets

More and more livestock farmers came forward with their stories. Farmers Paul Lassuyt and Marc Bonnaerens saw several dairy cows die in agony due to remnants of cans. They are therefore passionately advocating for the introduction of a deposit scheme. Among others, a farmer from Gelderland also sounded the alarm. He has already lost 10 cows due to pieces of aluminium cans in the feed. "A deposit scheme is urgently needed," he told Omroep Gelderland.

"Two cows on my brother's farm died last year after eating shreds of cans," says Tjalling de Wit from Ruinen, a council member for the CDA in De Wolden in the Dagblad van het Noorden. "Those cans are scattered around and are chopped into small pieces by mowing machines. A cow doesn't even notice eating them, they are so small. But they do cause the stomach of such a cow to be torn open." A painful death is the result. De Wit is therefore a fervent supporter of introducing a deposit on cans and bottles.

The Facebook post of livestock farmer Jacco Draaijer about his deceased cow also went viral. "She was dying in agony. It was as if a large knife was tearing through her stomachs and intestines. The stool was loose and pitch black, which indicates a lot of blood. I called the vet, but there was nothing more to be done. Within a few hours she had passed away," he said in the Leeuwarder Courant.

"The problems are growing," says Malda, a vet at Dierenkliniek Deventer to the Algemeen Dagblad. "Over the past four years, the number of animals with problems due to plastic or cans has risen. It now affects one in ten cows."

The only solution that the livestock farmers see themselves is a deposit scheme. After all, in countries with a deposit system, such as Germany, you find very few beverage cans in the fields. The deposit on beer bottles ensures that you see very few of them on the street. On the other hand, cans without a deposit are ubiquitous in litter.

Farmers' organisations in action

The largest farmers' union in the Netherlands, LTO, was shocked by the research and immediately joined the Deposit Alliance, which is asking the Dutch and Belgian governments for a faster introduction of a deposit scheme on plastic bottles and beverage cans.

The Flemish farmers' organisation Algemeen Boerensyndicaat (ABS) also joined the Deposit Alliance and launched a poster campaign: "Politicians, stop pretending you don't know anything about it". The Algemeen Boerensyndicaat ABS was therefore disappointed that the Flemish government had not yet decided on a deposit scheme in its 'Summer Agreement'.

The largest farmers' organisation in Belgium, the Boerenbond, is also advocating for the introduction of a deposit scheme on beverage cans. The KVLV, Vrouwen met vaart, is also a member of the Deposit Alliance, partly out of concern about the effects of cans on cows.

The alliance between environmental organisations, municipalities and farmers' organisations is strongly stepping up pressure for the expansion of the deposit scheme, wrote Trouw. Recycling Netwerk and Greenpeace Netherlands made a joint appeal to the Rutte III government: "And don't forget all those cans either".

House of Representatives in action?

On 10 March 2018, the Dutch government gave businesses two years to improve recycling and reduce the number of plastic bottles in litter by 70-90%. If that fails, a deposit on plastic bottles will be introduced from 2021. This decision will not stop cattle mortality. After all, State Secretary Stientje Van Veldhoven (D66) said nothing about how cans in litter will be tackled.

In April 2018, the House of Representatives passed a motion requesting the government to make agreements with the business community and municipalities on an action plan and target reduction percentage for cans in 2020, with the aim of reducing the number of cans in litter.

As of September 2018, however, no action plan has been drawn up or reduction target formulated for cans. There are also no agreements on the sanctions and/or measures to be taken if the proportion of cans in litter does not decrease significantly.

A motion by MPs Suzanne Kröger (GroenLinks) and Chris Stoffer (SGP), submitted during the VAO Circular Economy on 7 September 2018, asks the government to also consider a deposit as a policy measure for cans, just like for plastic bottles, if the business community's action plan is insufficiently effective in tackling cans in litter.

The motion will be discussed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday 2 October.