| Law Summary | Deposits are a voluntary measure organized by industry. As of December 2018, there is no relevant legislation. |
| Date Implemented | The current system was established in 2007. |
| Containers & Beverages Covered | One-way and refillable PET plastic bottles (water & carbonated soda) Refillable glass bottles (beer) [1] |
| Refundable Deposit |
PET plastic bottles: €0.25 (US $0.28) |
| Handling Fees |
VBR: 0.06250€ ($0.071) per bottle |
| Unclaimed Deposits |
Retained by producer/importer |
| Program Success |
Return Rates: [2] |
Details
The deposit system in the Netherlands is voluntary; producers and importers are not required to register bottles in the deposit system. Some retailers have elected to establish their own deposit system; Aldi partially refunds deposits, and Lidi does not reimburse deposits. [3]
The system uses return-to-retail. About 11% of redemption is manual, and 89% uses automated systems (reverse vending machines/RVMs). [4]
According to the Netherlands Return Packaging Foundation (Stichting Retourverpakkingen NL), only one company was using refillable PET bottles as of late 2018. [5]
One-way glass is recycled at drop-off sites; the recycling rate is estaimated at 88%. Steel cans are removed from municipal solid waste prior to incineration.[5]
Footnotes
1. “Deposit Systems for One-Way Beverage Containers: Global Overview 2018." CM Consulting/ReLoop Platform, 2018. (CM/RL 2018)
2. Personal communication from Raymond Gianotten, Retourverpakking, Dec. 13, 2018 (RG 2018)
4. “Deposit Systems for One-Way Beverage Containers: Global Overview 2018." CM Consulting/ReLoop Platform, 2018.
5. RG 2018