Tourists in Amsterdam are being alerted to the Dutch system of putting small cash deposits on bottles and cans in a new campaign, in an effort to reduce the amount of rubbish.

Statiegeld Nederland, the organisation charged with collecting and distributing deposits, aims to make it clear to tourists how the system works with posters on screens and billboards in busy areas.

The English language posters alert tourists to the fact that nearly all bottles and cans carry a deposit and to stop them dumping their drink containers in rubbish bins. Instead, the campaign suggests, they should return them to a nearby supermarket for cash.

“It is only fair,” director Jeroen Hillen told the Parool. “After all, they have paid the deposit and we are happy if they hand back the used packaging. It is a win-win situation.”

Amsterdam has been struggling to cope with the extra litter following the introduction of deposits on small cans, as looters rifle through bins looking for bottles and cans that have been thrown away.

The number of return locations is slowly being expanded, with three more at the city’s main railway station, while rubbish bins on city centre streets are being fitted with padlocks.

Statiegeld Nederland has a target of ensuring 90% of bottles and bins are recycled.

Consumers failed to get back €87 million in deposits on plastic bottles in 2022, according to figures from packing industry body Afvalfonds Verpakkingen.