This is demonstrated by the figures from Verpact, formerly called Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. Over the past three years, we have lost a total of €374 million in deposits.
The amount has increased significantly in the past year, because a deposit has also been charged on boxes since April 1, 2023.
Deposit bottles
Last year, Verpact estimated we returned approximately 70 percent of the small bottles and approximately 88 percent of the large bottles.
That was more than a year ago, but the 90% target is still far from being achieved. This legal target applies from 2022.
The percentage of small bottles returned rose significantly, by ten percentage points. But for large deposit bottles, the percentage of returns did not increase at all, by only 1.1 percentage points.
Cans
The cans are often returned to collect deposits. The share of returned cans increased from 26% in the second quarter, compared to 61% in the third quarter of 2023, to 65% in the fourth quarter.
But this is also well short of the 90 percent target.
36 percent were not collected
Overall, the Dutch only got 63.5% of the deposit they paid last year. We did not collect the remaining 36%, i.e. 212 million euros. Many bottles and cans end up deposited in the trash, in plastic boxes, and some of them on the side of the road.
RTL Z previously calculated that the Dutch leave around €250 million in deposits on an annual basis. If you take into account that there was no deposit on cans in the first quarter of last year, Verpact accounts for about the same amount year-on-year.
More deposit machines are needed
Consumers have recently complained regularly about queues in front of deposit machines. Hundreds of extra deposit machines must be installed in supermarkets in the coming years to ensure people hand in more plastic bottles, according to a plan the Packaging Waste Trust submitted to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) in December.
There should also be more return points outside supermarkets.
Do not send money to supermarkets and producers
Neither supermarkets nor producers become richer if consumers do not return bottles or cans with a deposit.
Only if you take your deposit bottles and cans to the supermarket, but don't hand in the receipt (and don't donate to a good cause), does the money go to the supermarket.
