In a letter to the second chamber, Vivianne Heijnen, state secretary of the Dutch Ministry of the Environment, wrote that from 2024, the Netherlands will ban the use of single-use plastic cups and plastic packaging in catering establishments, festivals or on-site catering in offices. Reusable cups and plates will then become the norm.
"Every day, in the Netherlands alone, we throw away 19 million disposable cups and food packaging. We cannot continue to burden future generations. There needs to be a shift from disposable to reusable," says Heijen. "In this way, we avoid plastic soup, handle raw materials more carefully and leave a cleaner world."
The ban only affects on-site consumption - if you're dining in a restaurant or at a festival - not take-out. Washable coffee cups, glasses and plates will be the norm in restaurants, cafeterias, events and offices starting in 2024. There's a "but" to this story. However, companies can choose to continue to use single-use plastic cups and plastic meal packaging, "if they can recycle 75-90% , for reprocessing, there is no restriction."
In addition, medical institutions are excluded.
The Netherlands will also implement a ban on free cups for takeaway coffee and free packaging for takeaways in 2023. "By July 2023, for out-of-home consumption and takeaways, the cost of plastic disposable cups and meal packaging must be paid for in addition to the price of the coffee or meal."
These measures stem from a European regulation in effect since July 2021, the Single-Use Plastics Directive, which has the following provisions. The EU wants to reduce the use of single-use plastics and collect and recycle more of them. To this end, guidelines have been developed, known as the Single-Use Plastics Guidelines (SUP Guidelines).
