Almost 200 Dutch local authorities and other organisations have signed up to a campaign aimed at bringing in deposits on cans and small plastic bottles, Trouw said on Monday.

The Statiegeldalliantie was launched in November with 21 organisations, including the North Sea foundation and Weert local council in Limburg. It aims to persuade Dutch and Belgian governments to widen the use of deposits, which they say will reduce waste, rubbish collection costs and harm to animals.

Among the new signatories is farming lobby group LTO Nederland and the fishing industry umbrella group VisNed, Trouw said. And, according to the alliance, local councils representing 10 million of the Dutch population of 17 million have signed up to the campaign.

In 2015, the Dutch government tore up an agreement with the packaging industry to end the current system of deposits on plastic bottles. The industry argued there would be major cost advantages if deposits were scrapped but the cost savings, in a report commissioned by the industry, were later shown to be exaggerated.

MPs will debate widening the current deposit scheme in March, Trouw said.

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