More rules for single use plastics, take away outlets will have to charge

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Take away food outlets will have to charge their customers if they provide them with throwaway cups and plastic containers from July 2023, junior environment minister Vivianne Heijnen told MPs on Tuesday.

The new rules apply to ‘to go’ produces sold at stations, in petrol stations and other outlets, Heijnen said. It will be up to the seller to decide how much to charge for the packaging.

From 2024, throwaway cups at the office should be replaced by resusable ones and the use of plastic beer glasses and packaging will also be outlawed at festivals and in cafes and snackbars.

Hospitals may continue to use plastic products as long as most are recycled.

‘Every day, in the Netherlands alone, we throw away 19 million plastic cups and food packages, after using them just once,’ Heijnen said in her briefing. ‘We should not be saddling future generations with the problem and we need to switch from disposables to reusables.’

New rules are also being introduced in 2023 which will pass on the bill for cleaning up plastic litter to the producers. The measure will target the producers of plastic cups, food packaging, bags, cigarette butts, balloons and wet wipes, Heijnen said.

The money raised will be passed on to local authorities which are responsible for clearing up litter.

The new measures derive from EU wide rules on single use plastics.

Since charges were introduced for plastic bags in 2017, the number of bags found in regular litter has dropped by 70%.