Train users in the Netherlands will soon be able to hand in small plastic bottles at 50 railway stations nationwide, after a trial in Utrecht proved successful, news website Nu.nl said on Friday.

By the end of the year, travellers passing through Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Eindhoven stations will be able to hand in their bottles and either receive the 15 cent deposit via the Tikkie app or donate the money to the Plastic Soup charity.

Utrecht station has had four bottle collection points since the start of November and some 1,500 bottles were handed in the first week alone. Some 50 stations will eventually join the scheme, which, at a later date, will also include collection points for cans.

‘Every small bottle has a 15 cent deposit but people are still throwing them away,’ an NS spokesman told NU.nl. ‘It’s a bit of a hassle to take the empty bottles home and hand them in at a supermarket or other collection point.’

Deposits on small plastic bottles were introduced in July 2021 and around 80% are now being returned for reuse or recycling.