Recycling Network on NOS news about recycling in the Netherlands

This was stated by Robbert van Duin, chairman of the environmental organisation Recycling Netwerk, on 27 June in response to public research by the NOS into the opinion of Dutch people on waste processing.

Watch the NOS news broadcast here (from 08’10”) on how Dutch people recycle https://www.npo.nl/nos-journaal/26-06-2017/POW_03375642

The study, which featured in the NOS news broadcast on 27 June, shows that most people are highly motivated to recycle more and more in the Netherlands. However, the quality of the resulting raw materials remains insufficient and is even declining. As a result, almost no plastic products are currently replaced by products made from recycled materials.

Recycling Netwerk is pleased that the business community involved also recognises that the quality of plastic recycling needs to improve. In the broadcast, the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging (KIDV) emphasised that the quality of plastic collection must therefore also be improved. Robbert van Duin responds: "This requires a fundamentally different setup and not just preventing PMD collection together with cans and drink cartons. The collection stream now simply contains too many different plastics, with too much problematic contamination."

"The environmental benefits of the current systems are too small. That needs to be much better. The quality of recovered raw materials must increase. Materials that can be recycled to a high standard must be properly separated. For bottles and cans, this can be done, for example, with the deposit return system. This already works excellently in many countries, look at Germany and Norway, for example. But you could also think of other incentives for returning, for example, plastic bottles for milk, juices, detergents and shampoos".

View the NOS article here: NOS-Journaal 26 June 2017 http://nos.nl/artikel/2180030-we-willen-afval-best-scheiden-maar-liever-niet-zelf-wegbrengen.html

More info:

NOS-Journaal 26 June 2017 http://nos.nl/artikel/2180030-we-willen-afval-best-scheiden-maar-liever-niet-zelf-wegbrengen.html

NOS website 26 June 2017 http://nos.nl/artikel/2180102-meer-plastic-ingezameld-maar-het-wordt-steeds-smeriger.html

NOS news broadcast on study how Dutch people recycle https://www.npo.nl/nos-journaal/26-06-2017/POW_03375642