Every day we throw away all sorts of things as waste. Plastic, food scraps, cardboard, glass, an old table, you name it. To us, it is waste, we don't want anything more with it. Yet almost all this waste can very well get a second life. It is not waste. Reuse is good for the environment. By recycling, we don't have to throw away as much as waste. So we save raw materials and energy needed to make new products.
Circular economy
When you recycle waste, you help create a clean and waste-free environment, for yourself and future generations. That is the ultimate goal of a circular economy. A world with as little waste as possible where we reuse discarded products. If you buy products that are sustainably packaged or packaging-free, you also contribute significantly to this. We will work even harder to reduce waste in the coming years. We need your help to achieve this!
Less residual waste: good for the environment and your wallet
Together with the municipalities, we encourage and help all residents with less residual waste and even better separation. To this end, the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden together with Waardlanden drew up a new waste and raw materials plan in 2021. This plan is called the Strategy Memorandum 2021-2025: Together for a waste-free and clean municipality. This plan describes how we will reduce the amount of residual waste to no more than 100 kilograms per inhabitant in 2025. If we prevent residual waste and reuse more of it, we will need to extract fewer new materials from the earth. This will leave less residual waste to be incinerated. Also, the central government's incineration tax makes burning residual waste increasingly expensive. So less residual waste is important for the environment and for your wallet.
Find out more in the strategy note and in the mid-term review strategy paper 2021 - 2025.
Measures show impact
As part of the new policy, several measures were taken, such as the closure of underground containers and the introduction of the environment pass. In the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Molenlanden, the recycling tariff was also introduced. Residents in these municipalities pay a rate each time they dispose of their residual waste. In the Vijfheerenlanden municipality, this does not yet apply. By 2024, residual waste had fallen to 133 kg of residual waste on average per inhabitant. A 40% decrease compared to the 232 kilos of residual waste average per inhabitant in 2020, before the introduction of the strategy memorandum. Separation of raw materials also increased across the area, with on average 9 kilos more vegetable, fruit, garden and food waste (VGF), 6 kilos more plastic packaging, metal packaging and beverage containers (pmd) and 1.5 kg more textiles per inhabitant.
Most waste is raw material
Some 75 per cent of our waste is raw material. Such as VGF, luirs and pmd. If we separate these properly, we can reuse them. For example, we can turn VGF waste into compost. From PMD we can make new packaging and products. And an old table gets a new life if we bring it to the recycling centre.
> Find out more about waste and resource separation
Tips and advice on waste separation?
Preventing residual waste and separating waste properly is sometimes quite a challenge. That is why our environmental coaches Ingrid and Nelleke are happy to help you with tips and advice.
Questions?
We can imagine that you have concerns and questions about policy and strategy. This is understandable. That is why you will find answers to frequently asked questions on our website.
> Find answers to frequently asked questions