Packaging on its way to the 'highest achievable goals'

The future of the Packaging Policy will shortly be discussed in the House of Representatives. The government and the business community are on their way to the 'highest achievable goals', as can be read in the documents. According to Recycling Netwerk, they are (deliberately) confusing 'quality' with 'quantity', which opens the door to the abolition of deposits.

In the General Consultation on 14 November, two documents are on the table: the 'Packaging Sustainability Agenda' of the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging and the 'Baseline Monitoring Document', drawn up by a working group with representatives of the Ministry of I&M, municipalities and the business community. Both documents are not unimportant for the subsequent decision-making on the potential abolition of deposits.

Monitoring process: improved and tricked

In the Baseline Monitoring Document for Packaging, almost a hundred pages describe in detail how the measurement of different packaging waste streams and packaging placed on the market should be carried out. Recycling Netwerk finds this a clear improvement compared to the packaging policy in the preceding twenty years:

“This can ensure much more transparency, especially in plastic recycling”.

However, there is a catch. According to Recycling Netwerk, this transparency also makes it clear how the figures for plastic recycling are being "tricked":

“It can be established that the negotiation technique of the representatives of the business community has borne the necessary fruit. They want to set up the monitoring of plastic recycling in such a way that unrealistically high recycling percentages roll out. If you measure what goes into the recycling plant, and not what comes out of it, you automatically score a high figure. Another trick is to call all mono-streams coming from the sorting plant 'high-grade'. And then that is also referred to as 'as high-grade as possible'. In this way, it becomes very easy to meet the most important condition for releasing the deposit (90 kton of as high-grade as possible recycling of plastic packaging).”

Sustainability agenda: searching for 'highest achievable goals'

The Sustainability Agenda is a consequence of the latest Framework Agreement on Packaging, intended to achieve further sustainability of packaging materials (Art. 3.1) and of packaging (Art. 3.3). Establishing this agenda is a task of the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging (KIDV), which also has to determine what the "highest achievable goals" for 2018 are. The Sustainability Agenda makes it clear that the KIDV is not only looking for the highest achievable goals, but also for support for this among the various stakeholders and especially the sectors. They want to "determine the vision together", align with "the methods that leading companies internationally use as standard" and "The sectors themselves are responsible for the sustainability plans containing the highest achievable goals for product-packaging combinations".

The Institute must then assess the plans, whereby, in accordance with the Framework Agreement, this does concern packaging materials and packaging.

In this Sustainability Agenda, the approach by sectors is not yet concretely addressed; of course, it is only the first version. As far as the beverage sector is concerned, two projects that are now underway are addressed: the 'beverage cartons pilot' and the 'increase in the reuse of PET in soft drink bottles'.

In the 'search for highest achievable goals', however, deposits seem to be taboo. Deposits on beverage cartons, as is very common in Canada, for example, are not being investigated. And further, not a word about the fact that all over the world, they are largely dependent on deposit bottles for recycled PET in soft drink bottles.

The future of the Packaging Policy will shortly be discussed in the House of Representatives. The government and the business community are on their way to the 'highest achievable goals', as can be read in the documents. According to Recycling Netwerk, they are (deliberately) confusing 'quality' with 'quantity', which opens the door to the abolition of deposits.

In the General Consultation on 14 November, two documents are on the table: the 'Packaging Sustainability Agenda' of the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging and the 'Baseline Monitoring Document', drawn up by a working group with representatives of the Ministry of I&M, municipalities and the business community. Both documents are not unimportant for the subsequent decision-making on the potential abolition of deposits.

Monitoring process: improved and tricked

In the Baseline Monitoring Document for Packaging, almost a hundred pages describe in detail how the measurement of different packaging waste streams and packaging placed on the market should be carried out. Recycling Netwerk finds this a clear improvement compared to the packaging policy in the preceding twenty years:

“This can ensure much more transparency, especially in plastic recycling”.

However, there is a catch. According to Recycling Netwerk, this transparency also makes it clear how the figures for plastic recycling are being "tricked":

“It can be established that the negotiation technique of the representatives of the business community has borne the necessary fruit. They want to set up the monitoring of plastic recycling in such a way that unrealistically high recycling percentages roll out. If you measure what goes into the recycling plant, and not what comes out of it, you automatically score a high figure. Another trick is to call all mono-streams coming from the sorting plant 'high-grade'. And then that is also referred to as 'as high-grade as possible'. O

Sustainability agenda: searching for 'highest achievable goals'

The Sustainability Agenda is a consequence of the latest Framework Agreement on Packaging, intended to achieve further sustainability of packaging materials (Art. 3.1) and of packaging (Art. 3.3). Establishing this agenda is a task of the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging (KIDV), which also has to determine what the "highest achievable goals" for 2018 are. The Sustainability Agenda makes it clear that the KIDV is not only looking for the highest achievable goals, but also for support for this among the various stakeholders and especially the sectors. They want to "determine the vision together", align with "the methods that leading companies internationally use as standard" and "The sectors themselves are responsible for the sustainability plans containing the highest achievable goals for product-packaging combinations".

The Institute must then assess the plans, whereby, in accordance with the Framework Agreement, this does concern packaging materials and packaging. In this Sustainability Agenda, the approach by sectors is not yet concretely addressed; of course, it is only the first version. As far as the beverage sector is concerned, two projects that are now underway are addressed: the 'beverage cartons pilot' and the 'increase in the reuse of PET in soft drink bottles'.

In the 'search for highest achievable goals', however, deposits seem to be taboo. Deposits on beverage cartons, as is very common in Canada, for example, are not being investigated. And further, not a word about the fact that all over the world, they are largely dependent on deposit bottles for recycled PET in soft drink bottles.