New developments in waste management in the Netherlands.

With a current recycling rate of 51% the Netherlands has one of the leading positions in the recycling of household waste in Europe. However, in the last 10-15 years there have been few developments made in the recycling of household waste. The introduction of producer responsibility for waste electrical and electronic equipment in 1999 and for packaging in 2005 have been the biggest changes in this period. However, these measures have, so far, not significantly influenced the overall recycling rate for household waste. In order to plan the next steps, which are necessary to reach the goals of the National Waste Management plan, new innovative methods are needed. A number of Dutch municipalities and waste collection companies are investigating promising new paths to enhance separate collection and recycling of household waste. This article reports on three of the most interesting initiatives.