Contribute to cleaning up plastic litter
Do you produce disposable plastic products? You must contribute financially to help clean up litter. You also have to encourage consumers to dispose of plastic waste correctly, and not to litter. This is called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
EPR applies to the party that first brings the product to market in the Netherlands, producers as well as importers. In addition, other parties in the sales or waste chain may have responsibilities, such as distributors (including retail).
For which products do you have to pay?
The EPR applies to single-use plastic products that are often found in litter:
- tobacco products with filters, or loose filters
- single-portion food packaging
- disposable cups
- bags and wrappers
- lightweight plastic carrier bags
- drink containers
- balloons
- wet wipes
Exception for sanitary towels and tampons
Do you produce sanitary towels and tampons? You do not have to pay for cleaning up litter and collecting waste. However, you must encourage consumers to prevent littering.
Please note: You can no longer market certain disposable plastic products unless you put specific markings on the packaging
One-off reporting
As soon as EPR applies to your product, you must notify Rijkswaterstaat (in Dutch, scroll down to the yellow box for the proper form) within 6 weeks. You can report or request more information via email: producentenverantwoordelijkheid@rws.nl.
How much do you pay for cleaning up litter?
You have to pay a fixed amount for every plastic product you market. The price depends on the product. The government looks at which products typically end up in litter and determines how expensive it is to clean it up. Rijkswaterstaat publishes the price per plastic product (in Dutch) on 1 June of each year.
How do you pay for cleaning up litter?
It is not yet known to which organisation you will need to pay. You pay your clean-up contribution by 1 August of each year, based on the number of products you put on the market in the previous year. The first clean-up contribution is due by August 2024. You can pay individually or together with other producers through an organisation of producers. Check with your sector organisation if there is a producer organisation that organises the payment.
Encourage consumers to prevent littering
Extended Producer Responsibility also includes challenging consumers to avoid and prevent littering. For example, you should let users of your product know that:
- the product contains plastic, and does not break down in the environment
- users should dispose of the product properly
You must make a plan every 3 years with the measures you take to encourage consumers to dispose of plastic products properly.
Annual reporting
Every year you must submit a report on how you meet your EPR obligations (in Dutch). In this report you must also state how many products covered by the UPV you have placed on the market. Your producer organisation can do this as well.