Netherlands includes cans in its return system

The Netherlands includes aluminum and steel beverage cans in its national deposit return system

The Dutch national system for recycling beverage containers will start accepting aluminum and steel cans with the aim of promoting the circular economy.

As of July 2022, the system has accepted small plastic bottles in an expansion of its original compatibility with large plastic bottles. Still, BrightVibes has estimated that 150 million beverage cans leak into the Dutch environment each year, and aluminum can pollution rates are said to have increased by 27% by 2020.

With the aim of recycling and promoting the reuse of metal containers, Statiegeld Nederlands decided to expand its capacities  to include all metal beverage containers up to three liters capacity from April 2023. Consumers may pay an additional deposit of €0.15 when purchasing an eligible beverage and will receive it as a refund when returning the packaging to a reverse vending machine at a collection point.

Also, gas stations and supermarkets with staff of more than 200 square meters are considered mandatory collection points, while cinemas, sports clubs and other locations can register as voluntary collection points with Statiegeld Nederland. Reverse vending machines are believed to be an easy, efficient and cost-effective method of collecting containers.

Rene Hissink, senior manager of TOMRA Collection, noted that the inclusion of aluminum cans in the deposit return system in the Netherlands could contribute to a more robust and effective circular economy. “The expansion of the Dutch deposit return system to aluminum cans means that a new type of material will enter the loop and can be returned to the circular economy using appropriate recycling processes,” added Hissink.

On the other hand, Statiegeld Nederland has set as its main objective to recover 90% of the products eligible for deposits to clean up the country’s packaging contamination. It is estimated that the Netherlands sells an annual average of 600 million large and small bottles of soft drinks, water and beer, as well as 2.5 million cans.

Recently, TOMRA reported that a similar national deposit return system in Slovakia apparently received 820 million returned containers in its first year of operation, exceeding its expected return rate by more than 70%.