Over 40% of small bottles are still not being handed in to collection points, despite the 15 cent deposit, an evaluation by business collective Afvalfonds has shown.

The deposit system for small bottles came into effect on July 1, 2021, and requires businesses to collect 90% of small bottles. However, in 2022 some four hundred million of them did not end up at a collection station, the figures show.

Most people, some 91%, know about the system so the only conclusion is that people “can’t be bothered or it’s not made easy enough for people to get rid of them,” Afvalfonds director Hester Klein Lankhorst told the AD.

“The problem with the small bottles is that they are used on the go and that you’re stuck with them, for instance when you get off the train. Then it just ends up in the normal bin. Some stations have a collection point but it’s inconvenient to go and look for them,” Klein Lankhorst said.

The deposit system has also led to more litter as people upend bins in search of bottles and cans. Machines that are full or not working properly are also a problem.

Klein Lankhorst said the solution is to install more collection points at schools, amusement parks, stations and festivals. Another solution may be to collect the bottles outside supermarkets or even collection at people’s homes, she said.

There are already 28,000 collection points, but more are needed, particularly in city centres, Klein Lankhorst said.  “But we can’t have 30 machines at one station, so people will have to make more of an effort,” she said.

Klein Lankhorst also said the recent introduction of a deposit on plastic packaging may run into similar difficulties because businesses and the public had not been able to prepare for it sufficiently.