News item | 29-03-2022 | 10:00
By 2024, disposable plastic cups and meal packaging will be a thing of the past in principle not allowed if you eat or drink on site in a catering facility, at a festival or at the office. Reusable plates and cups are then the norm to avoid environmental pollution and plastic soup. State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Environment) writes this in a letter to the House of Representatives today. The measures aim to reduce the huge numbers of plastic products that are thrown away after a single use.
State Secretary Heijnen: “Every day, in the Netherlands alone, we throw away 19 million plastic cups and food packaging, after a single use. We should not continue to burden future generations with this. A turnaround is needed from disposable to reuse. Many entrepreneurs are already doing well with this. In this way we prevent plastic soup, we handle raw materials more carefully and we leave behind a cleaner world.”
Washable mugs in the office from 2024
In the rules for less plastic disposable cups and meal packaging, a distinction is made between consumption on site and consumption on the road (collection and delivery). For on-site consumption, reusable crockery will be the starting point from 2024: the washable coffee mug in the office and the plate in the canteen and eateries. Only healthcare institutions are excluded. When absolutely necessary, companies can choose to continue using certain disposable plastic cups and meal containers, as long as they collect 75%-90% of this for high-value recycling. This can be done through separate collection with, for example, a return system, so that new cups and trays can be made from the raw materials.
Ban on free coffee cup to go from July 2023
As of July 2023, for consumption on the road and takeaway, an amount must be paid for plastic disposable cups and meal packaging, in addition to the price for the coffee or meal. This also applies to the apparently paper cups from which, for example, a lot of coffee to go is drunk. It also contains a layer of plastic. This means that from July 2023 there will be a ban on the free supply of disposable plastic cups and food packaging for single use. Entrepreneurs can decide for themselves how much they charge per disposable plastic cup or tray. 100% paper and other plastic-free disposable packaging remains permitted. At the same time, reuse is stimulated because entrepreneurs must also offer reusable alternatives for meals and drinks that are prepared on site. In addition, some plastic packaging in supermarkets that is comparable to to-go packaging also costs money, such as a prepackaged sandwich or a salad.
Cleaning up plastic litter
Also, with the new rules from 2023, the bill for cleaning up the litter on the streets, in ditches, rivers and nature reserves from plastic products will be paid by the producers who put these products on the market. This applies specifically to drinking cups, food packaging, pouches, wrappers, plastic bags, cigarette filters, balloons and wet wipes. This money is distributed among government organizations that clean up litter, such as municipalities and provinces. It is, of course, everyone’s responsibility not to throw any waste on the street.
Preventing plastic soup
The measures stem from the European Single-Use Plastics directive. Since 3 July 2021, measures have been taken in all European Member States to reduce the environmental impact of the ten most commonly found disposable plastic products on beaches. Think of the ban on plastic straws, plastic cutlery and plastic stirrers. In addition, since 2017 it has been prohibited to provide plastic bags for free. With success: since then the number of plastic bags that ends up in litter has decreased by 70%. For the use of disposable plastic cups and food packaging, Member States must achieve an ambitious and sustained reduction by 2026 compared to 2022. The measures described above should lead to this reduction being achieved in the Netherlands.