Dutch gov't officially scraps surcharge on single-use plastic takeaway containers

Entrepreneurs no longer have to charge a surcharge if they give their customers disposable plastic cups for on-the-go. The government is scrapping this rule at parliament’s request, State Secretary Chris Jansen (Environment, PVV) said in a letter to the Tweede Kamer. He wants the new rules to take effect next year.

The rules apply to all disposable cups and containers that contain plastic. Coffee shops that, for example, give paper cups with a layer of plastic for takeaway must currently charge an extra amount. They can decide for themselves how high that amount is, and they keep that money themselves.

After a similar request in 2023, the then-government already asked the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate not to enforce this rule. The final choice was left up to the new government. Jansen announced last autumn that he would adjust the surcharge slightly, but is now scraping it all together after a new motion by VVD MP Martijn Buijsse, among others.

Jansen has not yet responded to another request from Buijsse. In March, a majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, supported a request to allow disposable cups with a plastic layer also when people drink their drinks at the coffee shop or restaurant. The motion attaches conditions to this. That is not enforceable, Jansen said at the time. He is considering how to deal with this motion.

The Tweede Kamer also asked Jansen to refrain from banning wet wipes containing plastic. There was no national ban on this product. At a European level, Jansen is now focusing on “additional measures” instead of a ban.

The State Secretary reiterated that blockages caused by wet wipes in the sewage system could cost 22 to 26 million euros annually. “It is also technically possible to produce wet wipes without plastic.”