Following an agreement with the packaging industry, Dutch Environment Minister Stientje van Veldhoven announced that the country will introduce a EUR 15 cent deposit fee on all plastic bottle smaller than one litre. It will come into effect on 1 July 2021, with the aim of further reducing plastic litter as the target of reducing by 70-90% the littering set in 2018 has not be reached. The current deposit fee (EUR 25 cents) for bigger bottles remains unchanged. Producers of soft drink and water bottles are responsible for introducing the deposit system. An implementing organisation is being set up to help all collectors roll out the deposit system in the coming year.
The next step taken by Veldhoven against litter is to reduce the number of cans in the environment, using a similar approach as with bottles. If the number of cans dumped as litter is not reduced by between 70% and 90% in the autumn 2021, a deposit on cans will be introduced.