The idea has been circulating for many months now, but it has finally become official: the Dutch government has introduced a 15 cent deposit for all cans sold in the Netherlands. The new rule will come into effect at the end of next year. 

15 cent deposit on cans from December 2022

From December 31, 2022 you can expect to pay a little more for a can of your favourite soft drink or beer - 15 cents more to be exact. A similar system already exists for many plastic and glass bottles, which allows shoppers to earn their money back if they return empty bottles to their local supermarket or Gall & Gall. 

Plans for a can deposit had been revealed a while ago, as the government told produces that a deposit would be inevitable if they did not ensure a 70 percent reduction in can waste in 2021 compared to the 2016 / 2017 average. Sadly, this goal was not achieved, with the amount of waste actually increasing by 27 percent. 

A decision on the deposit was set to be made later this year, but Environment Minister Stientje van Veldhoven brought forward the ruling as she knew the target would not be met: “About 150 million cans that end up in the environment every year, about 25 Olympic swimming pools full, are not included. Animals also injure themselves. With a deposit on cans, that will soon be a thing of the past."

Hopes a deposit will significantly reduce domestic and commercial waste

Every year, approximately two billion cans are sold in the Netherlands, and the aim of the deposit is to collect and recycle as many of them as possible. Where and how the cans will be returned is yet to be determined, but the fact that the measure doesn’t come into effect until next December provides supermarkets and the beverage industry the chance to prepare for the price hike and set up a system.  

Van Veldhoven has stipulated that there will be an exception to the measure for catering establishments and small businesses who will not be expected to collect cans. This will mean that the producers of cans will shoulder the deposit costs. 

Last year, Van Veldhoven announced the same deposit for small plastic bottles, which will come into effect on July 1: “The most effective way to combat litter is to prevent people from throwing their waste into the environment at all. A deposit appears to be the right way to do this,” she said. A number of European countries had already introduced a deposit on cans, including Germany, Norway, and Denmark.