Bottle Bill Resource Guide

Details

Previously, the deposit system in the Netherlands is voluntary; producers and importers are not required to register bottles in the deposit system. Some retailers have elected to establish their own deposit system; Aldi partially refunds deposits, and Lidi does not reimburse deposits. [13] According to the Netherlands Return Packaging Foundation (Stichting Retourverpakkingen NL), only one company was using refillable PET bottles as of late 2018. [14]

The Netherlands Ministry of Environment announced that the deposit scheme would become mandatory. It was expanded to small PET bottles (less than 1 liter) in July 2021 and aluminum cans in December 2022. Previously, only plastic containers up to 0.8 liters containing water and soft drinks were accepted. The deposit is €0.15 with a collection target goal of 90%. [15]

The system uses return-to-retail. About 11% of redemption is manual, and 89% uses automated systems (reverse vending machines/RVMs). [16] As of 2023, there were roughly 5,400 collection points in the country. [17]

As of December 2023, the system administrator Verpact (previously known as Afvalfonds Verpakkingen) had not yet achieved a 90% collection target rate, receiving an official warning from government inspectors regarding the system's performance. [18] The government mandated an action plan from companies to bolster the collection rate, including additional enforcement actions and expanding covered beverages to include juice. In 2023, the collection rate was 74% - increasing from the previous year rate of 68%. [19]

Footnotes

[1] "Dutch introduce 15 cent deposits on small plastic drinks bottles from 2021." DutchNews. April 25, 2020.

[2] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2014." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[3] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2015." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[4] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2016." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[5] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2017." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[6] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2018." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[7] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2019." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[8] "Monitoring Verpakkingen Resultaten inzameling en recycling 2020." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[9] Ibid.

[10] "Toelichting op het Verslagleggingsformulier Recycling Verpakkingen Resultaten recycling verpakkingen 2021." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[11] "Toelichting op het Verslagleggingsformulier Recycling Verpakkingen Resultaten recycling verpakkingen 2022." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 20, 2023.

[12] "Toelichting op het Verslagleggingsformulier Recycling Verpakkingen Resultaten recycling verpakkingen 2023." Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Last accessed September 10, 2024.

[13]  Personal communication from Raymond Gianotten, Retourverpakking, December 13, 2018 (RG 2018).

[14]  "Sorteren." Retourverpakking, last accessed February 2020.

[15] "Global Deposit Book 2020: An Overview of Deposit Systems for One-Way Beverage Containers." Reloop Inc. December 15, 2020.

[16] "Statiegeld op blik een feit." Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, February 3, 2021. Translated through personal correspondence with Wolfgang Ringel, TOMRA Systems.

[17] "Global Deposit Book 2020: An Overview of Deposit Systems for One-Way Beverage Containers." Reloop Inc. December 15, 2020.

[18] "Inspectors get tough on bottle and can recycling, threaten fines." DutchNews, December 21, 2023.

[19] "More plastic bottles collected for deposit, but target still way beyond reach" NL Times. August 18, 2024.

Last Updated on September 10, 2024.