Motion debate in the House of Representatives on deposits

Cans are major polluters. 40 percent of litter consists of beverage packaging. 62.7 percent of that is cans. When cans end up in animal feed during mowing, they cause injuries in the stomachs of cows, resulting in illness or death. Now, an experiment by environmental organisation Recycling Network reveals that cans also contain plastic. The cans that end up in nature therefore contribute to the plastic soup.

“Each of these reasons should in itself be enough to prompt the government to take action on cans. In April 2018, the House of Representatives also unanimously voted in favour of the motion by MP Carla Dik-Faber (ChristenUnie) asking the government for an action plan and target reduction percentage for cans in litter in 2020. More than a year later, the action plan is still not there,” says director Rob Buurman of Recycling Network.

In April 2019, the 5 environmental organisations Recycling Network Benelux, Natuur & Milieu, Plastic Soup Foundation, the Plastic Soup Surfer and Greenpeace together asked the government to include cans in the deposit return scheme, or at least to provide for that option. However, State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) refused this. She continues to limit the deposit discussion to plastic bottles, being actively supported in this by D66 MP Jessica van Eijs and CDA MP Agnes Mulder.

On 13 June, State Secretary van Veldhoven sent a letter to parliament. In it, she says that "it is desirable that the consideration of the draft decree by your House be rounded off before the summer of 2019". However, MP Kröger believes the debate on deposit schemes is too important to be rushed through via a written procedure. She requested a debate on motions. It has been promised that the debate will go ahead on Wednesday.