When Mariama Kamara enters the new Statiegeld return shop on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, she is on a mission. She has been tasked by her aunt, who runs a nearby restaurant, with depositing three giant blue trash bags of bottles and cans. In about seven minutes she feeds the deposit machine about 350 cans, bringing in more than \u20ac50 (\u00a343) which will go back into her aunt\u2019s business. \u201cIt\u2019s a really cool idea, and so convenient,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
In the Netherlands<\/a>, whenever consumers buy goods in cans, <\/strong>glass or plastic bottles, they pay a slight fee (statiegeld) that ranges from 15 cents to 25 cents depending on the size and type. This money can be reclaimed, however, when you return the container to a \u201creverse vending machine\u201d, while uncollected deposits go to enlarging the scheme.<\/p>\n Statiegeld stores in the Netherlands serve solely to process returned bottles and cans. Photograph: Thijs Huizer<\/p>\n But the machines, which are usually located<\/a> in grocery stores where they can catch foot traffic from customers, sometimes don\u2019t work, or are not large enough. Stores will also only accept packaging from brands that they sell: for instance, Lidl won\u2019t accept a Coca-Cola bottle because they don\u2019t sell that brand there. And, unlike most of the other countries that have deposit return schemes, in the Netherlands there is no legal obligation for stores beyond supermarkets to have these machines.<\/p>\n The Netherlands has an extremely ambitious national legal collection target set by the Dutch packaging management decree, which says that the beverage industry must recover at least 90% of all bottles and cans sold. The problem is it still has a long way to go. According to Verpact<\/a>, 77% of all plastic beverage bottles and 84% of cans were returned last year \u2013 a high rate compared with many countries but still not high enough.<\/p>\n So this year, Verpact is trying something new, launching shops that are solely for returning plastic bottles and cans (glass must be disposed of elsewhere). The first return store opened in May in Rotterdam, with a bulk machine that can process up to 200 bottles and cans at once and, according to Verpact, more than a million deposit packages have been handed in since then.<\/p>\n Amsterdam now houses two Statiegeld stores and, because of their central locations, they have already brought in a lot of foot traffic. Users include those looking to dispose of waste, local businesses, intrigued tourists and people who spend entire evenings collecting cans and bottles. \u201cFor some people, it\u2019s junk, for others, it\u2019s something to eat,\u201d said an employee from Kier, the organisation tasked with manning the stores.<\/p>\n Deposit return schemes aren\u2019t unique to the Netherlands. In 1970, the Canadian province of British Columbia introduced the first mandatory system to return beer and soft-drink cans and bottles. In 1984, Sweden created its own model, becoming the first in the European region to do so. The Netherlands launched its deposit return scheme<\/a> in 2006, which has expanded over the years. Seventeen countries across Europe have systems in operation, including Norway<\/a>, Germany<\/a> and Ireland<\/a>. And because of recent EU legislation<\/a> that tasks member states with a 90% collection rate for single-use plastic bottles and cans, more countries<\/a> are joining the pack.<\/p>\n Hester Klein Lankhorst, the CEO of Verpact, sees this initiative as a way to help reach the ambitious national legal collection targets: \u201cThe goals we need to reach are really high and in a short time. We have to do it as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The first Statiegeld return shop opened in Rotterdam in May. Three more have opened in Amsterdam. Photograph: ANP\/Alamy<\/p>\n Companies that release packaged products on the market are legally obliged to handle packaging collection and recycling, including the deposit system, says Verpact. It is the responsibility of the company, on behalf of the packaging industry, to report on an annual basis to the government.<\/p>\n The containers collected are sorted<\/a>, cleaned and then mainly processed into new raw material that can be sold back to manufacturing companies. According to Verpact, recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is used in new PET bottles. In 2023, PET bottles already contained, on average, 44% recycled PET. The Netherlands<\/a> also now requires that by 2025, 25% of the material of a PET bottle must be recycled material.<\/p>\n Deposit return schemes are also seen as helping create a more circular economy<\/a> and in some cases can help reduce litter. A study by the ministry of infrastructure and water management, the CE Delft consultancy and Utrecht University found that<\/a> since the return shops opened (although they are not necessarily the only reason) the number of small plastic bottles and cans in litter decreased by 69%.<\/p>\n But conversely, in some situations people who were gathering the bottles to raise money may empty out wastebins searching for them, making the litter situation worse. \u201cIn some cities, especially around garbage cans, there has been more litter, and it has incurred costs for cities that have to clean up that litter because they break cans, and then animals come in,\u201d says Martin Calisto Friant of Circle Economy, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n And the price of managing the technology and transport is significant. \u201cIt is quite an expensive system, but it really helps to lower the littering,\u201d Lankhorst says. Finally, there are concerns over whether the financial returns \u2013 a key part of the incentive to recycle \u2013 are high enough. \u201cThere\u2019s a low incentive, in my opinion, of a deposit value for small containers, and that I would say is one of the big weak points in the Dutch system,\u201d says Thomas Morgenstern of Tomra, a Norwegian waste sorting company that supplies the reverse vending machines for many of the deposit return systems in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n An automated Statiegeld bottle return site. Photograph: Statiegeld\/Facebook<\/p>\n