Municipalities collect less household waste and more plastic

Dutch municipalities collected 556 kilograms of household waste per inhabitant in 2009. That is 1 percent less than in  2008.

Inhabitants separate nearly half their waste. Refuse collection services collected 81 kilograms of compostable waste per inhabitant, 3 percent more than in 2008. Collection of used paper and cardboard, on the other hand, fell by 3 percent to 66 kilograms per inhabitant.

Since 1 January 2010, municipalities are required to collect plastic packaging waste separately. In anticipation of this obligation, many municipalities started the separate collection of plastic waste at the end of last year. As a result 1.8 kilograms of plastic waste per inhabitant was collected in 2009. This is more than three times as much as in the previous year.

Household waste, total

Harrie Meeuwissen