Red Bull increasingly the champion of litter
For the time being, plastic bottles containing juices, dairy products and alcoholic beverages will be exempt from deposits. A final decision has not yet been made regarding cans, although the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Stientje van Veldhoven, is preparing legislation. The plastic bottle, for a long time the symbol of throwaway culture, will be found much less frequently due to the introduction of deposits [...]
Plastic bottles with juices, dairy and alcoholic beverages are excluded from deposits for the time being. For cans, the final decision has not yet been taken, although the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Stientje van Veldhoven, is preparing legislation.
The plastic bottle, for a long time the symbol of throwaway culture, will be found much less frequently due to the introduction of deposits. CE Delft calculated that the share of bottles in litter will decrease by 70 to 90% due to deposits. The question is: what will this mean for the share of cans in litter?
According to a study by KplusV, about 50 to 100 million, mainly small, plastic bottles end up in litter annually. According to the same study, about 100 to 150 million cans end up in the environment, significantly more than the bottles.
According to Rijkswaterstaat, there are 2.5 times as many cans as bottles in litter.
According to Zwerfinator's data, the difference between cans and bottles is even greater. Based on 62,484 collected beverage packages, the conclusion is that cans end up in litter 2.7 times as often as bottles.
After the introduction of deposits on bottles, that difference will become much larger. If bottles decrease by 70%, there will be an average of 9 cans on the street for every bottle found. And if the number of bottles decreases by 90%, there will be 27 cans for every bottle.
Red Bull frontrunner
On World Cleanup Day in 2019, cans were already collected and recorded more often than any other type of litter. And the share of cans will only grow after the introduction of deposits on plastic bottles. The absolute ‘frontrunner’ in this is Red Bull. In recent years, Red Bull has managed to steadily increase its ‘market share’ in litter.
Research by Zwerfinator shows that in 2016, 9.3% of the beverage packaging in litter was Red Bull. By 2020, this had already more than doubled to 20.9%. Once deposits on plastic bottles become a reality, this will only rise further.
Even if we merge and add up all the brands brought to the market by different companies, Red Bull remains sovereign in 1st place with 20.9%, followed by Coca-Cola with 14.4% and Heineken with 12%.
Although Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull F1 car, has been trying in vain for years to dethrone Mercedes, there is absolutely no doubt when it comes to litter. The Austrian company Red Bull is lonely at the top. That will only change if the government also introduces a deposit on cans.
It is therefore looking forward to the Draft regulations on deposits for cans, the Cost study by CE Delft and the Litter monitoring first half of 2020 by Rijkswaterstaat. These 3 documents are expected to be sent to the House of Representatives in October.
Dirk Groot
Zwerfinator
Rob Buurman
Director of Recycling Network Benelux
rob@fairresourcefoundation.org
Plastic bottles with juices, dairy and alcoholic beverages are excluded from deposits for the time being. For cans, the final decision has not yet been taken, although the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Stientje van Veldhoven, is preparing legislation.
The plastic bottle, for a long time the symbol of throwaway culture, will be found much less frequently due to the introduction of deposits. CE Delft calculated that the share of bottles in litter will decrease by 70 to 90% due to deposits. The question is: what will this mean for the share of cans in litter?
According to a study by KplusV, about 50 to 100 million, mainly small, plastic bottles end up in litter annually. According to the same study, about 100 to 150 million cans end up in the environment, significantly more than the bottles.
According to Rijkswaterstaat, there are 2.5 times as many cans as bottles in litter.
According to the data from Zwerfinator, the difference between cans and bottles is even greater. Based on 62,484 collected beverage packages, the conclusion is that cans end up in litter 2.7 times as often as bottles.
After the introduction of deposits on bottles, that difference will become much larger. If bottles decrease by 70%, there will be an average of 9 cans on the street for every bottle found. And if the number of bottles decreases by 90%, there will be 27 cans for every bottle.
Red Bull frontrunner
On World Cleanup Day in 2019, cans were already collected and recorded more often than any other type of litter. And the share of cans will only grow after the introduction of deposits on plastic bottles. The absolute ‘frontrunner’ in this is Red Bull. In recent years, Red Bull has managed to steadily increase its ‘market share’ in litter.
Research by Zwerfinator shows that in 2016, 9.3% of the beverage packaging in litter was Red Bull. By 2020, this had already more than doubled to 20.9%. Once deposits on plastic bottles become a reality, this will only rise further.
Even if we merge and add up all the brands brought to the market by different companies, Red Bull remains sovereign in 1st place with 20.9%, followed by Coca-Cola with 14.4% and Heineken with 12%.
Although Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull F1 car, has been trying in vain for years to dethrone Mercedes, there is absolutely no doubt when it comes to litter. The Austrian company Red Bull is lonely at the top. That will only change if the government also introduces a deposit on can.
It is therefore looking forward to the Draft regulations on deposits for cans, the Cost study by CE Delft and the Litter monitoring first half of 2020 by Rijkswaterstaat. These 3 documents are expected to be sent to the House of Representatives in October.
Dirk Groot
Zwerfinator
Rob Buurman
Director of Recycling Network Benelux
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