Dutch people missed out on 374 million in deposit money by not handing everything in | Economy

Because we do not collect all the deposits, Dutch people have missed out on 374 million euros in deposits over the past three years. This is evident from figures from Verpact, the organization responsible for the collection of plastic bottles and cans.

According to the organization, 71 percent of plastic bottles were collected last year. That’s just over a year earlier.

Although the collection target has not been achieved, collection in the Netherlands is growing faster than in other European countries, says Verpact director Hester Klein Lankhorst. “High-performing countries such as Norway and Denmark needed eight to eleven years to raise 90 percent.”

In the Netherlands, deposits are charged on plastic beverage bottles and cans to reduce the amount of litter. According to Verpact, this was achieved last year: the number of small bottles in litter has decreased. The number of wandering cans has also fallen considerably, according to figures from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

From the moment cans could be returned, there were long lines in front of the vending machines and the machines often jammed. Verpact wants to solve this by providing additional collection points.

These are not only found in supermarkets, but also at educational institutions, in public transport, in the catering industry and at airports. “Achieving additional collection points takes time,” Klein Lankhorst emphasizes. The new collection points are largely financed by deposits that have not been paid out.