15 cent deposit on water and soft drinks launches

The Netherlands introduced a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles containing water and other soft drinks on Tuesday. Purchasers will be charged an additional 15 cents for small bottles that can later be returned to all major supermarkets and highway gas stations, among other locations.

The fee will not be added to all bottles right away, but only to those with a new Statiegeld logo indicating they can be exchanged for a refund. The new bottles will be introduced to the market over the next month. By July 1, all bottles must have the new logo.

Every year, 900 million small and 600 million large plastic bottles with soft drinks and water are sold in the Netherlands. In April 2020, the State Secretary of Infrastructure and Water Management came up with a deposit on the small bottles, in order to reduce the amount of litter.

"The goal is to take back as much as possible, but at least 90 percent, of the small plastic bottles that are sold", said the director of Statiegeld Nederland, Raymond Gianotten, in an interview with RTL Nieuws

"Plastic is a valuable raw material and it’s a shame if it is lost. The small plastic bottles can be used to make other packaging and products," said Gianotten.

Collection points will also be set up at a number of NS stations at a later date. Many locations may not accept the bottles for return before July.

A deposit scheme on cans will also be introduced at the end of 2022.