He is not a wanderer, lives in the city center of Den Bosch and earns hundreds of euros with his hobby. Yet Steffan Mimpen is regularly verbally abused or pelted with rubbish. Steffan goes through the city during events looking for bottles and cans with a deposit. He also walks through the city with a garbage bag during carnival. “If you see five euros on the street, you wouldn’t pass it up, would you?”
The party music blasts through the city center of Den Bosch. Among the hustling and dancing crowd, Steffan stands out, dressed in a blue sweater and a backpack around his shoulders. The Oeteldonk colors are nowhere to be seen on him. Instead, he puts on a pair of black rubber gloves. “I always have this with me for hygiene.” Without looking dirty, he bends over into a waste bin.
It may look a bit unappetizing, but Steffan is not ashamed of it. He is one of the deposit hunters, who have become increasingly common since the introduction of deposits on cans. “I once saw it in the newspaper that you could hand in the event cups in Den Bosch for one euro each. Then I started collecting those cups during events. Gradually the cans and bottles were also added.”
“When I close my eyes, all I see are cans.”
He raises hundreds of euros during the events. “You can earn a lot, especially during carnival,” says Steffan. He even has a whole tactic for it. “I go out with a very large cargo bike, such a big one. Then I stop somewhere and walk a few laps while I fill my garbage bags with cans. When the cargo bike is full, I cycle home where I collect the catch. dump. And then on to the next place.”
It may be a strange hobby for many. Yet Steffan can completely lose himself in it. “You’re busy and you move a lot. In one day I cover dozens of kilometers. You can forget your thoughts while you’re searching. It’s almost meditative.” Before he knows it, the day has flown by and he is back in bed. “When I close my eyes, I often only see cans and bottles,” he laughs.
But his hobby also has a less pleasant side. Steffan is often harassed while collecting cans. “People immediately judge me. Then they think I’m homeless, even though I live in the city center. They swear at me or throw things at me. I just try to ignore them.”
“You earn about five euros with a full garbage bin.”
Steffan doesn’t understand where people’s aggression comes from. “I don’t beg and I don’t bother anyone. It’s a shame that people immediately want to confront me. If someone would just ask about it or start a conversation, I would appreciate that. Just put the stereotype aside and just have a chat to make.”
The last cans disappear into his already bulging garbage bag. He throws his used gloves into the recently looted waste bin. “This contains about fifty euros worth of deposit. You also encounter a lot of waste. Bottles from which only one sip has been taken. It is also a waste in terms of money. With a full garbage bin you earn about five euros. If you If you see five euros on the street, you wouldn’t pass it up, would you?”
WE WROTE THIS PREVIOUSLY ABOUT CANS:
During carnival you see more and more people chasing deposits
The deposit hunters cause nuisance in many municipalities