Jan (63) from Sneek only finds 2 to 3 euros worth of litter per week: ‘Deposit money has a huge impact’

Small plastic bottles have had a deposit for almost three years, and since April 1, 2023, this has also been the case for cans. There is a charge of 15 cents for both. A year after the launch of the new rule, buyers are returning about 65 percent of the cans. The percentage of bottles returned is now 71, according to figures from Verpact, formerly the Packaging Waste Fund. In the past three years, the Dutch left 374 million euros in deposits.

Both percentages are considerably lower than the legal target of 90 percent. The cabinet is therefore not satisfied. Hester Klein Lankhorst, general manager of Verpact, is. She says about the cans: “Because consumers are already used to deposits on bottles, the number of deposit cans that are returned has risen rapidly in one year. Growth in the Netherlands is faster than in plastic bottles and other European countries.”

Moreover, litter has decreased significantly, Verpact notes. The number of small bottles found decreased by 63 percent in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2020. And in 2023, the lowest number of cans was found in at least eight years.

‘Enormous influence’

Jan Haven (63) from Sneek also notices this. “The measures have definitely helped. Deposits have a huge influence.” Haven has been running various own ‘cleaning routes’ in his hometown for years, looking for litter. “I do that two or three days a week and can really notice that the deposit rule for cans has been introduced. It is a significant difference.”

He enjoys rowing and on his way from home to his rowing club, Haven always takes one or more plastic bags with him when walking. He once found it – indeed – in the litter. “I know exactly where all the trash cans are. On the way to the rowing club I empty the bag and continue searching.”

He also takes bags and a grabber with him on the way to the library or previously to work (Haven has just retired). “I go everywhere. At the moment, for example, at the Franekervaart, where the reeds have just been pruned, you can clearly see how much pollution there is. So much plastic. In a month, when everything is in bloom, the problem will seem to be gone. But that is not the case.”

Big bag filled up quickly

The number of cans on the street and in nature has therefore decreased significantly. At the beginning of last year, before the introduction of the deposit rule, Jan Haven filled one big bag of 1 cubic meter in three months with cans. “Only on the routes that I happened to walk. That big bag was so full. Unimaginable. Now it is not even half full in a year. So it is very clearly visible.”

He currently only finds 2 to 3 euros worth of deposit per week. Cans, small plastic bottles, but also larger plastic bottles (25 cents) and beer bottles (10 cents). All in all, things are going in the right direction. “My only concern now is the beverage cartons. That is a new trend, precisely because there is a deposit on cans. The packaging appears to be made of cardboard, but has a very thin layer of plastic on the inside. This really needs to be addressed more broadly, with legislation.”

Through his cleaning work, Haven hopes to make people think. “When passers-by see me, they will hopefully think about their own behavior. Sometimes I have a chat. Maybe it will have an impact and people will deal with waste more consciously in the future. That would be nice. So I try to adjust things a little in my own way.”