Contribute to cleaning up plastic litter

Do you produce disposable plastic products? You must contribute financially to help clean up litter. You must also encourage consumers to dispose of plastic waste correctly, and not to litter. This is called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

EPR (Uitgebreide Producenten Verantwoordelijkheid, UPV) 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 and retailers.

For which products do you have to pay?

The EPR applies to the following single-use plastic products (in Dutch):

• tobacco products with filters, or loose filters
• single-portion food packaging
• disposable cups
• bags and wrappers
• lightweight plastic carrier bags
• drink containers including bottles up to 3 litres
• balloons
• wet wipes
• fishing gear

Please note: You can no longer market certain disposable plastic products unless you put specific markings on the packaging.

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.

One-off reporting

As soon as EPR applies to your product, you must notify Rijkswaterstaat within 6 weeks (in Dutch). You can report or request more information via email: producentenverantwoordelijkheid@rws.nl.

If you join a producers’ organisation, they will take care of the notification for you, as well as your other EPR obligations. Keep in mind that not every product group has a producers' organisation.

How much do you pay for cleaning up litter?

You have to pay a fixed amount for every plastic product you market. The amount of this contribution depends on the product. The Dutch government looks at which products typically end up in litter and determines how expensive it is to clean it up. Rijkswaterstaat publishes the contribution per plastic product on 1 June of each year (in Dutch).

How do you pay for cleaning up litter?

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. For 2025, you must pay the clean-up contribution to Verpact It is not yet known which organisation you will have to pay the contribution to in the next few years. You can pay individually or via a producers’ organisation. Check with your sector organisation if there is a producers’ organisation that organises the payment.

Encourage consumers to prevent littering

Extended Producer Responsibility (UPV) 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 EPR you have placed on the market. Your producer organisation can do this as well.