Economy

Handing in cans is not yet a routine, so the consumer brain must be stimulated

2023-06-13 09:14:00

Many cans with a deposit still end up in the trash instead of at a collection point. How do you make sure this changes?

Joost van VelzenJune 13, 202311:14

There will be a lot of Coke going down the throat before we treat an empty can like an empty bottle. Most consumers know that there is a deposit on cans since 1 April. But it is not yet in the routine to collect that 15 cents and there is not always a collection point nearby. Just check a waste bin on the street or in the office. They burst from the cans.

“These are probably specimens that do not yet have the 15 cent deposit on them,” suspects consumer sociologist Hans Dagevos of Wageningen University. After all, money is a motivation not to crush those cans and to aim for the trash. “As soon as we see that those cans have value, we will act. Just like we started doing with bottles. That is different from batteries, which we hand in because we know they are rubbish. We don’t need a financial incentive for that, although not everyone does that yet.”

Handing in the cans, for example at the office, must also be someone’s responsibility. “Ask a colleague who might use a little extra or who would like to collect and hand them in. By way of a nice tip,” Dagevos suggests.

Explain what those cans do to nature

Another incentive that mobilizes consumers is: knowing why you are doing it. Explain better what those cans do to nature if we carelessly toss them over our left shoulder, advises Dagevos. Information platform Milieu Centraal always knows what to do with the uncomfortable truth. It reports that it can take up to 500 years for a steel can to decay in nature. An aluminum can lasts more than 50 years.

Metal cans also have a coating and ink on the outside. Both polluting. And accidents can happen, for example if cans end up in a mowing machine. “Emphasizing why we have to recycle them is still not highlighted enough,” says Dagevos.

Nor is it regarding a few cans: according to Milieu Centraal, approximately 2.5 billion units are put on the market in the Netherlands every year, most of them made of aluminum. About 150 million end up in litter every year. Due to the introduction of deposits, this should be ‘only’ 30 million in the long term. Tin, like glass, can be recycled almost endlessly.

But little will come of this if things are made too difficult for the thirsty consumer. Can drinkers can currently dispose of that empty cola can at around 5,000 collection points, often supermarkets and manned filling stations and at a few major train stations. You always get your deposit back there.

Be kind to the collected cans

But how do you do that if you bought and drank a can of cassis at Almelo station and there is no return point to be seen? This also applies to amusement parks, zoos and snack bars. “The infrastructure to facilitate the return of the cans is not in order and that is also the responsibility of soft drink suppliers,” Dagevos notes.

Organized by Statiegeld Nederland in a Plus Supermarket, the start of the deposit on cans since April 1 throughout the Netherlands.Image Patrick Post

You can, however, donate your deposit for a good cause at thousands of points of sale and sports clubs. If you still want to take the drunk cans home to hand them in at the local supermarket, you have to be nice to the collected cans. Whoever tramples them runs the risk that the deformed cans will not be recognized. ‘The return machine scans the barcode and checks the shape of the can or bottle,’ reports the Consumer Guide.

Because planet-friendly consumption is often a matter of every little bit helping, Milieu Centraal also draws the attention of can drinkers to the existence of caps: “If you occasionally drink a can, you can also order special lids to prevent leaks and to keep your drinks a little longer. to have a drink,” says a spokesman.

And don’t make it harder than it is. For every can to the Spar or the Texaco, nobody gets rich and happy. First collect regarding thirty of them and put them in the same sticky bag as that of the empty bottles.

Participate voluntarily

Ultimately, it is only a matter of time before the routine of handing in to the Dutch consumer has been established, predicts consumer sociologist Hans Dagevos: “We first have to build up that routine. Making the association between a can and the idea that we should leave it intact and not throw it away takes time.”

If it is indeed possible for the consumer to bring the empty can home neatly following a nice followingnoon or evening, the deposit options will not be exhausted. Producers of 100 percent juice, for example, can now voluntarily participate in a deposit system. This also partly applies to so-called packaging glass and to some beer bottles. “But that can of course be expanded,” says the spokesperson for Milieu Centraal.

Other candidates are coffee cups, shampoo bottles or cardboard drinking packs for yoghurt and milk, for example. The government is exploring a deposit system for beverage cartons. “You can charge a deposit on many things, as long as you can set up a working system to return it.”

The Green Guide section answers practical questions regarding (more) environmentally conscious living. Read previous episodes here.

Deposits for cans also lead to less litter. ‘We should have done this much sooner’

Experienced waste collectors see the share of cans in litter more than halved. But that’s not enough yet.

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