Verpact launches nationwide campaign to promote PMD waste recycling

The Dutch still do not know enough about how to properly dispose of packaging consisting of Plastic, Metal (cans) and Drinking Packs (PMD). This is evident from research by market research firm DVJ Insights, commissioned by Verpact among 1,053 respondents. For example, 1 in 3 Dutch people say they sometimes throw away half full packaging. However, this has major implications for their recycling: in fact, one half-full package can ruin a bag or bin of waste, making it impossible to recycle. It is striking that only half (55%) of the Dutch are aware of this. There also appears to be a lot of confusion about which packaging may or may not go in the PMD and what eventually happens to the PMD. To change this, Verpact today launches the national campaign "As long as it goes empty", which will be heard and seen on TV, radio and online in the coming period. For more information, see: www.verpact.nl/verpakkingleeg

Main photo: Verpact launches nationwide campaign "As long as it goes empty" to promote recycling of PMD waste © Verpact

Full and half-full packaging pollutes waste stream
Verpact is responsible in the Netherlands for the collection and recycling of packaging waste, including the deposit system. The organization investigated how Dutch people aged 18 and over deal with their PMD waste. It showed that behavior and knowledge about waste separation is insufficient in many cases. For example, drinking cartons are regularly thrown away wrongly with the waste paper and full or half-full packaging also ends up in the PMD. This pollutes the waste stream and makes recycling difficult or even impossible. Almost 50% do not know that a half-full packaging, can contaminate other packaging making the whole bag no longer recyclable.

At the same time, the intention is there: 75% of Dutch people think it is right to dispose of PMD packaging properly and 74% say they usually empty packaging properly. Yet a quarter says they sometimes skip it. And more than 1 in 3 Dutch people think - wrongly - that packaging should be rinsed first, which wastes drinking water unnecessarily.

Hester Klein Lankhorst, CEO of Verpact, says, "At Verpact, we work every day towards one goal: to turn as much packaging as possible into new packaging. Waste is not waste to us, but a valuable raw material. Whether you throw something away in the bottle bank, the PMD bin or bag or via the deposit system: if it ends up in the right place, we can reuse it. That saves resources, prevents littering in the streets and is better for the environment. We see that the vast majority of people have the right intention, but exhibit different behavior. Small actions at home can make a big difference. With this campaign we want to make people aware of emptying and separating properly."

Summer hit with content
Verpact's campaign starts Tuesday, June 10, and can be seen on online channels, television and on the streets, among other things. It can also be heard well beyond radio spots. As part of the campaign, singer Lena Hessels already launched her first Dutch-language single "Leeg Gaan" last week. In the song, which combines breezy electronic pop with an underlying message, she calls in her own quirky way for conscious behavior: empty packages properly before you throw them away. What initially sounds like a summer hit with a wink turns out to have substance by calling attention to emptying packaging.

Credits Verpact PMD campaign
Roorda

- Art director - Tom Zwarts

- Copywriter - Anne van Andel

- Creation director - Joeri Jansen

- Account manager - Tessel van der Zwet & Lieke Joosten

- Studio - Jorn Slotboom & Myrthe van Duinen

- Strategy - Floor Busch

- Producer - Marcel Ossendrijver

Production & Crew
- Production Company - KXRXT

- Director - Kevin Boitelle

- Executive Producer - Allen Grygierczyk

- Producer - Anouk Knapen

- Director of Photography - Ruben van Weelden

- 1st Assistant Director - Boris Apituley

- Focus Puller - Lars Inhulsen

- Gaffer - Maxime Pottuit

- Key Grip - Wesley Westerhuis

- Digital Technician - Jochem de Vries

- Set photography - Maurice van der Meijs

- Production designer - Desiree Brands

- Art Director - Iris Pauwels

- Set Dresser - Gem Fernández Zapateiro

- Prop Master - Ems Michelse

- Make-up Artist - Kira Kroegman

- Stylist - Anna Dijkman

- Stylist Assistant - Donna Hermans

- Camera equipment - Cinesupply

- Light Equipment - DDB Lighting

- Casting - Multa Casting

Post-production
- Offline edit - Kevin Boitelle

- Online Artist / team lead Wolfstreet - Damien Dracht

- Postproduction - Wolfstreet Agency

- Grading - Erik Verhulst

- Sound finishing Sound Circus - Feike de Wit

- Music - Lena Hessels

- Music producer - Marnix Bausch

- Versioning - Laura Brewer

Beautiful Lives: insights & innovation
- Rubina Oliana - Insights & innovation director

- Gaby Siera - managing partner

DVJ Insights
- Client consultant - Joyce Pakkert

- Research expert - Quinty Mars

ACE
- Head of Media - Rutger Schouten

- Senior Media Consultant - Tessa Meulman

- Media Consultant - Bjorn van Breenen

- Account Manager - Gijsje Visser

- Account Manager - Lesley Simin

Smith Communications
- Senior PR advisor - Madelon de la Haije

Chip bags and deodorant cans can go with PMD
There still seems to be a lot of confusion about which packaging belongs in the PMD. Especially with packaging that is less obvious, it often goes wrong. As a result, easily recyclable packaging ends up in the residual waste unnecessarily. This is a shame because valuable raw materials are lost this way.

Examples of packaging that does belong in PMD, but where the survey shows there is still ambiguity:

  • 65% unsure about sprays of deodorant or hairspray
  • 64% doubt plastic tubs with cream cheese, for example (even if they have mold on them - do empty them first)
  • 56% unsure about drug blister strips
  • 52% unsure about aluminum trays from takeout meals, for example
  • 50% doubt about potato chip bags with aluminum inner layer

There are also packaging that people actually know how to separate well. More than 80% know that plastic bottles, pouches, foils and yogurt containers can go in the PMD. On average, only 63% of people answer the knowledge questions about PMD correctly, but in cases of doubt, that percentage is much lower. More information on what is and is not allowed in PMD waste can be found at www.verpact.nl/verpakkingleeg.

Incorrect picture about processing PMD
In the Netherlands, municipalities determine how packaging waste is collected: via source separation or post-separation. With source separation, people separate their PMD packaging at home and deliver it separately via bags, containers or underground bins. With post-separation, the PMD is allowed with the residual waste and the recyclable packaging is taken out later in a factory. There is still much uncertainty about what exactly happens to PMD after it is discarded, especially in municipalities with post-separation. In areas where source separation is used, 63% of residents know that the PMD is recycled as well as possible. Interestingly, over a third of residents in post-separation municipalities think that plastic, metal and drinking cartons simply end up with the residual waste: 19% suspect it ends up in landfills, 15% think it is incinerated.

Klein Lankhorst continues: "It is worrisome that many people think that their PMD will eventually end up in one pile anyway and be incinerated. That is really incorrect. Whether the waste is collected via source separation or post-separation: we make sure that all empty packaging is recycled as well as possible. That misconception can lead people to dispose of their waste less carefully, and that's a shame. Precisely if everyone empties their packaging properly and puts it in the right bin or bag, we can conserve more resources and avoid waste. I would say as long as it goes empty!"

About Verpact
Verpact ensures that packaging in the Netherlands - after use - is collected, recycled and reused in a smart and efficient way, including through the deposit system. This implements the legally regulated producer responsibility for packaging. Verpact plays a central role in making the packaging chain circular, with the ideal being that every old packaging becomes new packaging. This preserves valuable raw materials in the chain, reduces litter and microplastics and limits the impact of packaging on the environment.

  • Part of Verpact are:
    Supporter of Clean, to prevent and address litter and encourage the use of reusable packaging
  • Sustainable Packaging Knowledge Institute (KIDV), which helps companies make sustainable, informed packaging choices
  • Deposit Money Netherlands, for an efficient and effective implementation of the deposit system
  • Waste Well Arranged, for an efficient and sustainable approach to waste separation and disposal.

Read more about Dutch recycling results for packaging, including reuse, here.