Measures against single-use plastic are a start, but loopholes must be closed

“It is an important step that this is finally being addressed. We must indeed move away from single-use. We want reuse to become the norm”, environmental organisations Fair Resource Foundation, Natuur & Milieu, Plastic Soup Foundation, Plastic Soup Surfer and Enviu react together. The measures are set out in the Single-use plastics products regulations published today, 29 March 2022. State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management) wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. On-site single-use In 2024, single-use plastic cups and food packaging will be banned if you eat or drink on-site in a catering establishment, at a festival or in the office. Reusable plates and cups will then be the norm to prevent environmental pollution and plastic soup. “That is an important step towards a more circular economy. However, the scheme also contains an exemption for on-site consumption: if you as a company have 75% and later 90% of your single-use cups “high-quality recycled”, you do not have to switch to reuse. That exemption is completely unnecessary; on-site consumption can simply always be done with reusable cups or food packaging. The exemption thus creates a risky loophole in the legislation. Reuse of products comes before recycling on the way to a circular economy,” says Rob Buurman of Fair Resource Foundation. Single-use on the go Single-use packaging for consumption on the go may no longer be free from July 2023, the State Secretary also writes. This is a good measure that Germany has already taken previously in the context of the Single-Use Plastics Directive. “It is particularly positive that the Netherlands is also applying this rule to pre-packed fruit, vegetables, nuts and portion packs, as this goes wider than the strict definition of take-away meals. It is also very positive that the Netherlands is including coffee cups that look like paper but have a plastic layer on the inside in the regulations,” says Emmy Van Daele of Mission Reuse. Loopholes The environmental organisations recommended to the government to turn the mandatory fee for single-use into a levy, which can be invested in reusable systems via a fund. However, the State Secretary has chosen to leave the allocation of the mandatory single-use fee to the market. This creates the risk that some companies will make extra money from single-use and fail to roll out the desired alternatives. Despite this being an important step in the reduction of single-use plastic towards 2026, the Netherlands is not leading the way with this. For that, the loopholes must also be closed. Bentelise Kraaijeveld of Plastic Soup Foundation: “It is good that reuse in catering, festivals and offices is now being stimulated, but we will have to go much further. Supermarkets are full of single-use plastics, too little attention is paid to this in these regulations. In France, large supermarkets are obliged to set aside 20% of their floor space for reuse, and many fresh fruits and vegetables may no longer be packaged in plastic. The Netherlands should follow that example.” Plastic Soup Surfer Merijn Tinga: “The majority of pollution from single-use cups is as a result of on-the-go use. Every year, tens of millions of single-use cups end up on the streets and verges in the Netherlands. An extra tax will make on-the-go cups more expensive but will have no effect on the percentage of cups that eventually end up as litter on the street”. Backgrounds RNB, Natuur & Milieu, and Enviu are working together on the transition to reuse within the Mission Reuse programme. Since its creation in 2020, Mission Reuse has been advocating for an ambitious transposition of the European Single-Use Plastics Directive into Dutch law. Mission Reuse submitted a Position Paper with a focus on reuse and a Position Paper on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The measures stem from the European Single-Use Plastics Directive. In all European Member States, measures have been taken since 3 July 2021 by this directive to reduce the environmental impact of the ten most common single-use plastic products found on beaches. Think of the earlier ban on plastic straws, plastic cutlery and plastic stirrers. Press contacts Fair Resource Foundation, Tom Zoete, admin@fairresourcefoundation.org +32497042796 Natuur & Milieu, Dieuwertje Penders, d.penders@natuurenmilieu.nl, 06-46843537 Plastic Soup Foundation, Elles Tukker, elles@plasticsoupfoundation.org, 06-29386056 Plastic Soup Surfer, Merijn Tinga Merijn@plasticsoupsurfer.org 06-12337245 Enviu, Thea van Unen thea@enviu.org 06-45072225

“It is an important step that this is finally being addressed. We must indeed move away from single-use. We want reuse to become the norm”, environmental organisations Fair Resource Foundation, Natuur & Milieu, Plastic Soup Foundation, Plastic Soup Surfer and Enviu react together.

The measures are set out in the Single-use plastics products regulations published today, 29 March 2022. State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management) wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

On-site single-use

In 2024, single-use plastic cups and food packaging will be banned if you eat or drink on-site in a catering establishment, at a festival or in the office. Reusable plates and cups will then be the norm to prevent environmental pollution and plastic soup.

“That is an important step towards a more circular economy. However, the scheme also contains an exemption for on-site consumption: if you as a company have 75% and later 90% of your single-use cups “high-quality recycled”, you do not have to switch to reuse. That exemption is completely unnecessary; on-site consumption can simply always be done with reusable cups or food packaging. The exemption thus creates a risky loophole in the legislation. Reuse of products comes before recycling on the way to a circular economy,” says Rob Buurman of Fair Resource Foundation.

Single-use on the go

Single-use packaging for consumption on the go may no longer be free from July 2023, the State Secretary also writes.

This is a good measure that Germany has already taken previously in the context of the Single-Use Plastics Directive. “It is particularly positive that the Netherlands is also applying this rule to pre-packed fruit, vegetables, nuts and portion packs, as this goes wider than the strict definition of take-away meals. It is also very positive that the Netherlands is including coffee cups that look like paper but have a plastic layer on the inside in the regulations,” says Emmy Van Daele of Mission Reuse.

Loopholes

The environmental organisations recommended to the government to turn the mandatory fee for single-use into a levy, which can be invested in reusable systems via a fund. However, the State Secretary has chosen to leave the allocation of the mandatory single-use fee to the market. This creates the risk that some companies will make extra money from single-use and fail to roll out the desired alternatives.