Many shops are still refusing to accept old light bulbs for recycling when a new one is bought, the consumers’ association Consumentenbond said on Tuesday.

The Consumentenbond sent mystery shoppers to 600 shops from 29 different chains to see how many were following the law that old bulbs must be accepted for new.

They found that nearly one-sixth of chainstores do not take old bulbs. In particular, Hema and Xenos did badly, with under half of Hema branches complying with the law and 10% of Xenos branches. Supermarkets C1000, Albert Heijn, Coop and Spar were not much better, the association said.

Of the supermarkets, Dirk van den Broek and Jumbo do well, while electronic shops score highly, followed by builders’ markets and garden centres.

Recycling

Meanwhile, railway companies NS and ProRail are to introduce recycling bins at train stations which they hope will cut the total amount of rubbish disgarded by passengers. A pilot with separate bins for paper and other rubbish will be run later this year at Rotterdam, Arnhem, Breda, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Zwolle stations.

The companies aim to reduce the 12,000 tons of rubbish a year to 9,000 tons, of which 75% will be recycled, and signed a contract to this effect with junior transport minister Wilma Mansveld on Monday, the Telegraaf reports.