Plastic waste and free market junk: how do municipalities deal with waste during King’s Day?

How municipalities monitor their waste depends on how King’s Day is celebrated per municipality. In general, the event organizations themselves are responsible for the waste that has to be cleaned up, many municipalities inform NH Nieuws in a response.

The hope of environmental organizations is that the new regulations regarding the use of plastic will help to reduce plastic waste during major national holidays such as King’s Day. “We expect that the ban on disposable plastic products (straws, trays, cutlery, etc.) and the introduction of a deposit on bottles will lead to less plastic pollution than normal,” explains Jurjen de Waal of the Plastic Soup Foundation.

The Plastic Soup Foundation in Amsterdam has been working for years to stop plastic pollution. According to De Waal, it is difficult to say whether more waste is produced during King’s Day. “It has of course also been canceled in recent years due to corona. But it is very likely that there is more litter on King’s Day than on other days of the year.”

The organization hopes that municipalities that organize or facilitate activities will do so in a responsible manner. “Preferably without disposable plastic, use collection systems during events. And in addition, do not release balloons. Fortunately, there is already a positive trend in this, but it is certainly something to take into account on King’s Day.”

corn cups

Municipalities that make the Plastic Soup Foundation happy are the municipalities of Heemskerk and Purmerend. “The catering industry works with cups based on maize. Twelve separate collection points have been set up throughout the center for this,” says spokeswoman Inge Dudink of the municipality. Also in Purmerend, the catering industry is using biodegradable or recyclable plastic this year.

Only a free market is held in the center of Heemskerk. “That makes cleaning up clear, also because there is no park in the center,” says Dudink. According to her, there are enough containers to collect waste after the free market. A waste management company then cleans up the center. “As a municipality, we don’t do that ourselves.”

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On Texel, they estimate that about ten square meters of waste is produced in all villages. “The event organizations are obliged to clean up their waste themselves. We generally have good experiences with that,” says spokeswoman Muriëlle Bergman.

During King’s Day extra mini containers will be placed and sweeping actions will be held to monitor all waste as much as possible. “Gemeentewerken is making extra use of the sweeper in Den Burg – where a party is also being organized in the park – and in De Koog where necessary.”

After King’s Day there will be no more waste in Den Helder than in a normal week, says spokesman Nies Schellinger. “The organizations that have applied for a permit for an event are responsible for removing the waste and the retailers have an obligation to remove the waste within a radius of 25 meters.”

In Hollands Kroon, no extra measures will be taken during King’s Day. “This is not an issue for us. We have a number of events on King’s Day. They must ensure that the waste is cleaned up themselves. This is stated in the permit conditions,” says spokeswoman Noortje Slot.

Waste after the free market

In Schagen they are going to deploy a crane truck through a contractor after the free market. “Mainly for the stuff that is not sold and left on the market. We estimate it is about eight cubic meters in total,” says spokeswoman Lisa de Graaf. In Purmerend, most of the waste that remains is also from the free market, says spokeswoman for the municipality of Roos Bell. “It mainly concerns non-saleable items that are left behind after the free market in the park. Around the center it is a lot about cups.”

Extra waste buoys will be installed in Schagen where people can dispose of their waste. “But we don’t separate waste because in practice this does not seem to work on such a day. The coarse waste does go separately in the cracker truck.”

They are also taking a major approach to waste collection in Zaanstad. “We drive to various places in Zaanstad with six garbage trucks, two crane trucks, three sweepers and a number of small trucks. Good for about 115 cubic meters of pressed waste, 50 cubic meters of unpressed waste and 18 cubic meters of sweeping waste,” says Esther Andoetoe, spokeswoman for the municipality. According to her, the waste processor does the post-separation.

According to de Graaf, cleaning actions are also being set up by residents in the neighborhood. “There are many people and groups of people who voluntarily clean up litter, they can pick up free pickers from us.”

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In 2021 Velsen has joined regional agreements on sustainability ambitions within the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. This also includes making events plastic-free, including King’s Day. “The ambition has not yet been realized and is not yet a condition in the permit for events,” says Erik Penning of the municipality of Velsen.

At the free market on the Lange Nieuwstraat in IJmuiden, large disposal containers are placed and the streets are swept clean afterwards. †For other areas, we empty extra trash cans, this concerns a few cubic meters of waste,” says Penning. For events on King’s Day, they include in the permit that the organizer returns the location clean, in the same condition as before the event.”Enforcement sees to this.”

In order not to run after the waste, they start cleaning a lot in Haarlemmermeer on the day itself. “In the years before corona, the waste amount on King’s Day of bulky waste was approximately between 12,000 and 14.00 kilograms and sweeping waste around 2,000 kilograms,” says Wim Koevoet of the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer. “Waste company Meerlanden is ready to perform cleaning work for us.”