In the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, the County Board municipalities as well as
Rijkswaterstaat
Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Net ...
play a role in cleaning up
litter
Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, ...
. The
Dutch police
National Police Corps ( nl, Korps Nationale Politie), colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is divided in ten regional units, a central unit, the police academy, police services center, and national control ...
and local supervisors (known as ''buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaar'', or ''BOA'') fine citizens for throwing away cans, bottles or wrappers onto the street. The standard fine is 90
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, unless the defendant is between the ages of 12 and 16. In that case, the penalty is halved to 45 euro.
Working together for a cleaner Netherlands - homepage Municipalities and area managers (Dutch)
In 2003, Rijkswaterstaat
Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Net ...
spent around 8 million euros cleaning up litter along the main roads. The division of Rijkswaterstaat-IJsselmeergebied alone took about 900 tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s per year of litter from the 125 kilometers of roads they manage.
To reduce the amount of litter, the Dutch government agreed to a covenant with the business organizations. The agreements in the covenant fall within the spirit of the producer responsibility
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
. This means that producers and products on the market are (partly) responsible for these products in the waste stage. The agreement contains agreements between government and industry about reducing the amount of packaging waste
Packaging waste, the part of the waste that consists of packaging and packaging material, is a major part of the total global waste, and the major part of the packaging waste consists of single-use plastic food packaging, a hallmark of throwaway ...
and litter. At the end of 2002 the Department on the Environment, on behalf of the government, signed a treaty with business organizations and the Association of Dutch Municipalities
The Association of Netherlands Municipalities ( nl, Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten or VNG) was established in 1912 by 28 Dutch cities, at a time when the number of tasks delegated to municipalities saw a rapid increase. As a result of this in ...
(''VNG'').
The objectives of the Covenant on litter are:
* The business will ensure that by the year 2005 the quantity of cans and bottles in the litter has decreased by at least 80% (from 50 million in 2001).
* The industry is obliged to demonstrate their efforts so that the quantity of cans and bottles in the litter for 1 January 2005 decreased by at least 2/3 (from 50 million in 2001).
* The government, the ''VNG'' and all businesses shall ensure that through a joint effort, by the year 2005, the remaining litter is reduced by at least 45% compared to the year 2002.
See also
*Dutch law
The Netherlands uses civil law. The role of case law is small in theory, although in practice it is impossible to understand the law in many fields without also taking into account the relevant case law. The Dutch system of law is based on the Fr ...
References
Environment of the Netherlands
*
{{Netherlands-stub