Will 2014 be the year of truth?

For container deposit schemes, 2014 could be the year of truth. In the Netherlands, this concerns whether or not to abolish the deposit on large soft drink bottles. In this context, we will have intense discussions next spring about the results of agreements on tackling plastic packaging waste.

The first skirmishes on this in the House of Representatives are now behind us: Plastic recycling seems to remain an elastic concept when determining the agreed quantity, but the desired high quality of recycling stands firm.

Support for the deposit scheme remains strong, and there are almost no parties in the House of Representatives for whom the abolition of the deposit is already a foregone conclusion. In addition, the tackling of plastic waste is increasingly attracting attention worldwide due to the issues surrounding plastic soup and the increased focus on the quality of recycling plastics. This actually leads to a strong boost for deposit policies aimed at plastic bottles.

More deposit systems are coming worldwide

In other countries, too, the debate about deposit systems often runs high, but there it is not about fewer, but about more deposit systems. The anti-deposit lobby spends millions on stopping this development, but the prospects for new deposit systems look good. Decisions are already well on the way to introducing deposit systems in Australia, Spain and - to a lesser extent - Scotland. In many places (in the United States, Canada and Germany, for example), consideration is also being given to expanding existing deposit systems to cover more types of beverages and more packaging.

And finally, there are also favorable signals for deposit schemes coming from Brussels. Hard work is being done to tighten both European waste policy and European packaging policy, on raw material policy and on a strategy to tackle the plastic soup problem. And despite the strong anti-deposit lobby, Brussels - again and again and increasingly - sees the advantages of choosing a deposit system.

The Netherlands in search of the truth

Next spring it will be announced whether 'the performance guarantees' have been met over the past year. Based on the packaging agreement signed by her predecessor, the State Secretary will decide to 'release' the deposit scheme in the event of a positive assessment. If the House of Representatives agrees, the first large soft drink bottles without a deposit could be launched on the market in  early 2015.

But how do we arrive at a credible assessment and a fair decision?

The first and most important performance guarantee concerns the amount of plastic packaging material that was recycled "as high-quality as possible" in 2013. The quantity of recycling will probably not be the problem; there seems to have been more or less agreement on a definition that counts all waste received by the plastic recycling facility. By also counting waste that is not used in new plastic products, the performance was probably already achieved before the agreement was even signed.

What remains is the question of whether the chosen approach to plastic packaging waste has really led to recycling of the highest possible quality. Last month, the House of Representatives again urged waste policy focused on high-quality recycling with two motions. This once again underlined that the quality of recycling cannot simply be ignored.

Recycling Netwerk and professional plastic recyclers are of the opinion that the current mixed collection and sorting of plastic packaging waste leads to a quality that is too low, and that high-quality recycling requires high-quality collection. The recycling yield of mixed collected plastic packaging waste still leaves much to be desired, both in terms of environmental benefit and in terms of yield in euros. In practice, high-quality recycling of PET waste means bottle-to-bottle recycling, which is simply not possible without deposit bottles.

Thát is the honest story! Hence our deposit New Year's wish:

 “EchteHeld and Recycling Netwerk wish you a truly wonderful/honest year of truth”

Robbert van Duin,

chairman

For container deposit schemes, 2014 could be the year of truth. In the Netherlands, this concerns whether or not to abolish the deposit on large soft drink bottles. In this context, we will have intense discussions next spring about the results of agreements on tackling plastic packaging waste.

The first skirmishes on this in the House of Representatives are now behind us: Plastic recycling seems to remain an elastic concept when determining the agreed quantity, but the desired high quality of recycling stands firm.

Support for the deposit scheme remains strong, and there are almost no parties in the House of Representatives for whom the abolition of the deposit is already a foregone conclusion. In addition, the tackling of plastic waste is increasingly attracting attention worldwide due to the issues surrounding plastic soup and the increased focus on the quality of recycling plastics. This actually leads to a strong boost for deposit policies aimed at plastic bottles.

More deposit systems are coming worldwide

In other countries, too, the debate about deposit systems often runs high, but there it is not about fewer, but about more deposit systems. The anti-deposit lobby spends millions on stopping this development, but the prospects for new deposit systems look good. Decisions are already well on the way to introducing deposit systems in Australia, Spain and - to a lesser extent - Scotland. In many places (in the United States, Canada and Germany, for example), consideration is also being given to expanding existing deposit systems to cover more types of beverages and more packaging.

And finally, there are also favorable signals for deposit schemes coming from Brussels. Hard work is being done to tighten both European waste policy and European packaging policy, on raw material policy and on a strategy to tackle the plastic soup problem. And despite the strong anti-deposit lobby, Brussels - again and again and increasingly - sees the advantages of choosing a deposit system.

The Netherlands in search of the truth

Next spring it will be announced whether 'the performance guarantees' have been met over the past year. Based on the packaging agreement signed by her predecessor, the State Secretary will decide to 'release' the deposit scheme in the event of a positive assessment. If the House of Representatives agrees, the first large soft drink bottles without a deposit could be launched on the market in early 2015.

But how do we arrive at a credible assessment and a fair decision?

The first and most important performance guarantee concerns the amount of plastic packaging material that was recycled "as high-quality as possible" in 2013. The quantity of recycling will probably not be the problem; there seems to have been more or less agreement on a definition that counts all waste received by the plastic recycling facility. By also counting waste that is not used in new plastic products, the performance was probably already achieved before the agreement was even signed.

What remains is the question of whether the chosen approach to plastic packaging waste has really led to the highest possible quality of recycling. Last month, the House of Representatives again urged waste policy focused on high-quality recycling with two motions. This once again underlined that the quality of recycling cannot simply be ignored.

Recycling Netwerk and professional plastic recyclers are of the opinion that the current mixed collection and sorting of plastic packaging waste leads to a quality that is too low, and that high-quality recycling requires high-quality collection. The recycling yield of mixed collected plastic packaging waste still leaves much to be desired, both in terms of environmental benefit and in terms of yield in euros. In practice, high-quality recycling of PET waste means bottle-to-bottle recycling, which is simply not possible without deposit bottles.

Thát is the honest story! Hence our deposit New Year's wish:

“EchteHeld and Recycling Netwerk wish you a truly wonderful/honest year of truth”

Robbert van Duin,

chairman