About one third of the packaging used in the Netherlands is difficult to recycle and is often contaminated with pvc, even though this has been banned because of the environmental risk, according to researchers at Wageningen University.

The continued use of pvc in packaging is one reason why the government decided in 2015 not to scrap the deposit system on plastic bottles after all, despite years of campaigning by the industry and supermarkets.

The research was carried out on behalf of the Dutch waste processors and management association NVRD.

NVRD chairman Han Noten said in a statement that manufacturers must do more to ensure the packaging they use can be recycled.  ‘This report shows there is plenty of room for improvement,’ he said. ‘Contaminants put in at the beginning of the process have to be removed at the end, and that has not changed.’