Who will pick it up? Letter from environmental movement to State Secretary Mansveld

The Dutch environmental movement is very pleased that the deposit on large plastic bottles may not be abolished. The answer to the question "how to proceed" is crystal clear: with better regulations and also deposits on small plastic bottles.

Retention has been discussed for years, but the packaging industry and the supermarket sector repeatedly failed to meet agreements on tackling packaging and packaging waste. Last month, Recycling Network already showed that once again, a crucial agreement on banning PVC packaging had not been met. For State Secretary Wilma Mansveld (Environment), the limit has now been reached. Recycling Network, which represents the environmental movement in this area, wholeheartedly supports her decision to suspend the abolition of the deposit indefinitely.

In a joint letter to Mansveld, written also on behalf of Greenpeace, Milieudefensie and the joint Nature and Environment Federations, it is emphasised that the deposit system is in urgent need of an update. Robbert van Duin, chairman of Recycling Network, says: "Due to the drag-on discussion about whether or not to abolish the deposit system, the development of the system itself and the regulations surrounding it have been neglected. Innovations such as those in Germany and Scandinavian countries have been omitted, and logistical innovations that could have provided more convenience for consumers and supermarkets have not been considered. And when the Beverage Product Board was dissolved earlier this year, the deposit regulation that lapsed as a result was replaced by a makeshift arrangement."

But the environmental movement considers the increase in small plastic bottles, both on shop shelves and in the environment, to be even more crucial. Robbert van Duin: "Small PET bottles, on which no deposit is levied, have been sold more and more frequently over the past fifteen years. Now, more small than large soft drink and water bottles go over the counter. Precisely those bottles are often used outdoors, and you consequently see them lying around everywhere. Nasty, and a source of animal suffering and plastic soup. And I haven't even started on the cans yet."

In a recent study from Flanders on the feasibility and costs of a Flemish deposit system, the recommendation can be found that the deposit system is best modelled after the successful German or Scandinavian model, and not the "relatively inefficient Dutch system".

Robbert van Duin: "We hope that the return of beverage packaging will now be arranged quickly and effectively. We therefore request the State Secretary to bring into force Section 6 of the Packaging Decree, a legal article that already exists but is 'dormant', and to fill it in such a way that the deposit on plastic bottles for soft drinks and water is adequately guaranteed."

Annex: letter from the environmental movement to State Secretary Mansveld