PLASTIC COLLECTION UNDER FIRE Companies evade Packaging Decree

The figures behind the business community's plans were secret until recently. As a result, it was also not clear whether sufficient companies were affiliated with the executive organisation Nedvang. The environmental movement appealed to the public availability of this type of environmental information, but had to wait a long time. After more than a year, not all information is yet on the table. A decision on this will only be made at the end of this month. On behalf of the minister, "sincere apologies" were offered for this. Recently, the Ministry of Environmental Management did decide that the confidentiality for part of the documents had to be lifted. The documents that have now been made public show that far fewer companies are affiliated with Nedvang than was stated last year. Apparently, many companies evade the Packaging Decree by not making a notification. This particularly affects the relatively expensive plastic collection, because companies that put plastic packaging on the market in particular turn out to be poorly represented. The amount of plastic waste from households has almost doubled over the past ten years, with 90% of it being plastic packaging. In Germany and Belgium, the largest part of this waste is collected separately, but the Netherlands lags far behind. For future climate policy, the collection of plastic waste is seen as a top-ten measure. By recycling plastic waste, CO2 emissions during waste incineration are prevented and far fewer CO2 emissions are caused during plastic production. This concerns the recycling of both beverage packaging and 'other plastic packaging'. Separate requirements apply to this in the Packaging Decree. For example, every producer must ensure 95% collection of large plastic bottles. Most soft drink producers meet this requirement with a deposit system. In 2006, this involved almost 700 million bottles. But dairy producers completely ignored the Packaging Decree and put an estimated 300 million bottles on the market last year without a deposit. Almost none of those plastic bottles were collected. The environmental movement wants a deposit system to be introduced as soon as possible, because the current plans without a deposit cannot conceal that they are in fact aiming for only 70% collection. For 'other plastic packaging', it turns out that more than 60% is not represented by Nedvang. It is noted that here too, the collection plan yields insufficient output to ensure sufficient "The business community's plastic collection plan is a sop that does not meet the requirements of the law." states Robbert van Duin of Recycling Netwerk. "We are a great proponent of the collection of plastic waste, but it must be done properly!" The Recycling Netwerk, which represents eleven environmental organisations, has now, together with the Stichting Natuur en Milieu, requested the Minister of Environmental Management to take action. The environmental movement also wants fines for companies that violated the packaging law last year and has asked the minister for a stricter policy for the collection of plastic waste from households. For further information, see our notice of objection.