In Oss, the underground containers for PMD waste: plastic, metal and drinking cartons will disappear at the end of December. Too much rubbish is thrown in that doesn’t belong there: from diapers and organic waste to Styrofoam and nitrous oxide bottles. Due to all this residual waste, the PMD waste cannot be recycled, but must be incinerated. As a result, it does not make money, but actually costs money. It is striking that the municipality of Boxtel actually wants to purchase the same waste containers.
More and more is allowed in the underground container for PMD: from shampoo bottles and chips bags to milk cartons. Yet things don’t always go well. Robert Corijn works at waste processing company Attero and sees all kinds of things. “People can always make mistakes, but we see that on average 29 percent of the waste does not belong in the orange container. The limit is 15 percent, but other things are deliberately thrown in,” he says.
If there is too much residual waste, all the waste that has been collected can no longer be recycled. Alderman Dolf Warris in Oss also notices this. In that municipality, one hundred percent of the waste in the containers is rejected. “I’m disappointed about that, because all the plastic we collect is burned instead of recycled. We as a municipality have to pay for this, while we receive money for plastic, metal and drinking cartons,” says Warris.
“Burning waste means paying more waste taxes.”
“What I find so strange is that residents are willing to pay money for their bad behavior. Because the more residual waste we have to incinerate, the more waste tax residents pay.” Incorrect collection costs the municipality of Oss millions of euros per year. To put an end to this, all underground containers in the municipality will disappear from the end of December.
In Oss, PMD waste will only be collected in plastic bags from next year. These bags are collected every few weeks by the waste disposal service. This is now also happening in Boxtel, but according to councilor Fred van Nistelrooij, that is not ideal either. “We notice that bags sometimes break and that waste is then left on the street. Especially when the wind blows, there is quickly a lot of plastic that we have to pick up.”
That is why the councilor in Boxtel wants to purchase PMD containers. The most important thing is that a municipality properly regulates access to those containers, according to him. “Residents who live in a flat or apartment complex receive a pass. We hope that they will feel that they are less likely to throw away their waste anonymously,” he says. “And we trust that our residents will adhere to the rules of what is and is not allowed.”
“If the PMD containers disappear, the problem is solved.”
But according to Corijn from the waste processing company, that has no chance. “The waste from all those people with such a pass still ends up in one heap. If there is wrong waste, you still don’t know what did it. It remains anonymous despite that pass.” According to the expert, the system with plastic bags works better. “If you put a plastic bag on the street side, everyone can see what’s in it. This makes it much easier for neighbors, but also the waste disposal service, to address residents about their mistakes.”
The councilor in Oss confirms this. “In addition to the orange containers, we have been collecting plastic bags for some time now. Almost one hundred percent of the waste therein is suitable for recycling. If the PMD containers disappear, the problem is solved.”
On December 12, the municipal council in Boxtel will make a decision about the underground containers. On December 29, all PMD containers in Oss disappeared.