Introduction to recycling in the Netherlands

The Dutch are self described, avid recyclers of waste and unwanted products and are encouraged firmly by Government and local Government alike. One of the reasons is that landfills and incineration waste disposal is at near capacity in the country, coupled with most of the country being below sea level and the dangers associated with toxic runoff entering the water supply. Also, in 1995 a "refuse tax" was introduced to encourage recycling of household waste, including bottles, paper & organic material at source, placing responsibility onto the homeowners and creators of the waste. (Although the background and original reason was to increase revenue for the government.)
Much of the information relating to these topics can be found in the "Deelgemeentegids" (in Dutch), which is a free publication sent to you at the start of each year from your local Gemeente.

In the town of Arnhem in the north, Knowaste BV operates a facility that specifically collects and recycles adult personal diaper products and children's used diapers. There is an arrangement with many childcare centres around the city who collect up the diapers used and send them to this facility for recycling, the same goes for other care facilities.

When you purchase any household appliance or computer and related equipment, you will be charged a 'disposal fee'. This covers any future disposal costs. It is a mandatory 'point-of-sale' payment, even if you leave the country with the item.



Refuse collection

Call your local Gemeente for the days of collection in your area. The bins should include all the material that you haven't managed to or are unable to recycle!



Recycling - organic

Households used to be supplied with biobaks for organic waste, this was phased out in favour of paper bins. The sorting of organic and non-organic waste is now done after collection at landfill processing centres. However, if you would like to go very green and recycle your own household organic waste, a worm farm may be an option. Roteb will supply (and deliver) a compost bin to you free of charge and give you the name of the company where you can get a large amount of worms from.


Recycling - paper, glass & textiles

You will find recycling stations all over the city and supermarkets for glass (split into colours), paper & textiles.

Paper
Paper recycling includes all paper products like newspapers, general paper, junk mail, magazines and packaging.

Glass
Bottles that you can receive money back on (eg. Heineken), can be taken to your local supermarket recycling station. The Albert Hein delivery service will collect your empties also and take the refund off the cost of your bill. Other general non-rebate bottles are separated into colours (blue, green, brown, clear) and put in the general bins, this includes wine bottles and jars. Don't forget to remove lids and wash or rinse prior to recycling.

Textiles
You will find a choice of methods for textile recycling from charity bins to textile recycling and disposal bins.

Plastic
Any large sodas such as Coke, Sprite, 7Up, Pepsi etc can be recycled through the machine at your supermarket. You generally receive a E0,25c rebate per bottle, you will receive a receipt and it is then deducted from your bill at the checkout.

Non-recyclable items
You cannot recycle other plastic bottles (such as milk bottles, water bottles etc), aluminium and metal cans, or wax impregnated card such as tetrapaks.



Milieuparks & Piekfijn Kringloopwinkels

Milieuparks is the name given for landfills and your local Deelgemeentee guide or website will give the addresses for the sites. There is a tariff charged for using the landfill.

Kringloopwinkels (Piekfijn 2ehand warenhuis) is the name of the shops that on-sell second hand household items, including furniture, crockery, whiteware, clothing, appliances and more. You can take any items into the store that you do not want. You can also call the Piekfijn 0800 number to arrange collection at a cost of €25,00.



Disposing of the broken & unwanted and large garden waste

For items that are beyond the recycling and reuse stage or are too big and bulky to fit in the wheelie bin, you can call your local Roteb and book in a collection date. There is no charge for this service. Items you can use this service for include large garden waste, ie. trees and branches, household items such as broken appliances, cupboards, carpets, furniture etc. They will generally give you a time when there are several requests within your area. The will not collect items such as car tyres, paint tins or chemical tins or appliances of any sort. These items must go to your local mileiupark where there are special collection areas set aside.