The Dutch government plans to reduce the country's use of plastic that can end up in the sea. Therefore, on July 03, 2021, a ban will be introduced on certain types of disposable plastic tableware and food packaging. It is also planned to increase the volume of recycling of plastic waste and actively promote reusable alternatives.
These measures are part of a directive agreed by the European ministers of the environment and the European Parliament. Member States of the EU, including the Netherlands, must incorporate this directive into their national legislation.
Secretary of State Van Veldhoven called it "a good step forward against plastic soup." According to him, the future is the recycling and reuse of raw materials.
Plastic cutlery, bottles, cups, cotton swabs and bags of chips are most commonly found on the beaches. The EU hopes to reduce this with a directive because the amount of single-use plastic in the sea is increasing every year and is already damaging the environment. Marine animals die by eating the remains of plastic, and its smallest particles enter the food chain, and as a result, settle in the human body.
List of measures approved by the EU:
From 2021, a ban will be introduced on certain single-use plastic items such as plates and glasses, cutlery, stirrers and straws, food containers.
Caps are to be attached to plastic bottles and beverage packaging by 2024. Thus, they will automatically be returned for recycling.
From 2025, PET bottles should be at least a quarter of recycled plastic. And by 2030 already by a third.
A regulation on hygiene products, tobacco products and drinking glasses will be introduced. It will tell you what kind of waste this applies to. It will also contain information about the plastic in the product and how it affects the environment.
Manufacturers will be held responsible for waste from their products. Manufacturers must ensure the collection, transport and recycling of these plastic products, and inform consumers about it.
By 2025, at least 77% of all plastic drinking bottles with a volume of up to 3 liters should be collected. By 2029, this figure should be at least 90%.
The government should provide consumers with information on reusable alternatives to plastic products, proper waste management and the environmental consequences of plastic waste.
So Germany has already announced a ban on plastic cotton swabs, straws, cutlery, plates, balloons and food containers. According to the German Minister for the Environment, this is necessary to combat the "waste culture".
Free plastic bags in supermarkets were already banned in the Netherlands in 2016, after which the number of plastic bags in the trash dropped dramatically.
Publication Date: 12.08.2020
