From January 1, 2025, residents of the municipality of Coevorden will pay a fixed amount each time they put their container with residual waste on the road, or per garbage bag they hand in. The municipality will then introduce the diftar system. Example rates mentioned are seven euros per wheelie bin and 1.75 euros per residual waste bag.
With this, Coevorden wants to further reduce the amount of residual waste per resident and keep waste processing affordable. A council majority supported the proposal on Tuesday evening: only the VVD faction voted against the plan.
BBC2014 went along with the plans, despite the fact that there was a difference of opinion within the group. “We see that in other municipalities diftar indeed produces less residual waste, but at the same time we also note that there is little support among the population,” said councilor Ton Soppe (BBC2014).
His group also fears that residents may try to dispose of their residual waste in other ways. For example, by throwing it in the PMD or organic waste or taking it to the recycling center. To prevent this, Soppe submitted two proposals so that this can be better monitored and stricter checks are carried out at the recycling center.
Other parties indicated that they were in favor of the introduction of diftar. “The principle that the polluter pays applies,” said Eddy Heeling (CDA). “Diftar is an essential incentive to reduce the amount of residual waste,” added Marjan Nijenbanning (PvdA).
Opposition party VVD was the only one to vote against the Diftar plan. According to Floris Vulto, there is a risk of waste dumping in nature. “Especially in a vast municipality like Coevorden.” According to other factions, this fear is unfounded based on experiences in other municipalities. Councilor Jeroen Huizing (CDA): “We can also tackle that with extra enforcement.”
The municipality will use the coming year to prepare for the introduction of the new waste system.