Aluminum can deposit scheme delayed by Council of State against Cabinet wishes

A deposit system for cans does not have to come into effect on January 1, 2023 as Environment State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen planned. Instead, the system must come into force by April 1 next year, the Council of State has determined. In response, angered environmental groups have alleged that the business community itself sabotaged the introduction of the new system.

The highest administrative court decided to postpone the introduction of the system because there will not be enough machines for the system to function by the beginning of next year. Furthermore, manual collection by supermarkets would lead to major practical problems.

The Council of State believes that the public interest is better served by this than by a phased introduction. All parties agreed that a smooth introduction of the system is important.

The lawsuit was brought by producers and importers of canned drinks as well as supermarkets that are members of the the nonprofit organization Stichting Afvalfonds Verpakkingen. They wanted a series of potential penalty payments off the table. These could be imposed from 1 January if a can deposit has not yet been collected and refunded.

Because this is not possible for practical reasons, the court of the Council of State decided to suspend the penalty payments for three months. Only from 1 April will Heijnen be allowed to enforce imports of the system.

On Thursday, Heijnen said the deposit system for cans would go into effect "just on December 31." The Environment State Secretary felt that producers had enough time to prepare for the new law.

Stichting Afvalfonds Verpakkingen calls it "pleasant" that the administrative court has ruled quickly. "And we are pleased that it has let the public interest prevail. The ruling provides clarity and peace of mind for everyone, especially for the consumer," said Hester Klein Lankhorst, general manager of the organization. She emphasized that Afvalfonds Verpakkingen is not in favor of a deposit on cans.

However, environmental organization Recycling Network Benelux said that the business community has had two years to implement the system. "As a rule, deposit countries set up a completely new system in one year's time. This delay is an absolute failure of the Dutch business community, " stated the organization. They believe that the State Secretary must do everything possible to prevent further delay.