• Intro text: Every day, our Waste Heroes work extremely hard to keep the region clean, tidy and safe. Often in the background, but always indispensable. One of them is supervisor Kees. He is on the road every day to keep our region tidy and clean. Curious about his work? Watch the video.

Every day, our Waste Heroes work extremely hard to keep the region clean, tidy and safe. Often in the background, but always indispensable. One of them is supervisor Kees. He is on the road every day to keep our region tidy and clean. In this video, Kees shows what his work entails and how it contributes to a clean and safe living environment. 

Commitment to a clean neighbourhood

As a waste and resources policy supervisor, Kees deals with waste and items put next to collection containers. He takes immediate action when a report comes in. Assesses the situation and looks for clues to trace the owner of the waste. Then he makes sure that the waste is cleaned up quickly to keep the neighbourhood clean and tidy.

"The best part is when residents say we are doing a good job," Kees says. Litter next to containers creates a nuisance. It is not only dirty and messy, but also unsafe and attracts pests. That is why it is important to throw waste in the container - not next to it.

You are a Waste Hero not only during the Week of Waste Heroes, but throughout the year. That is why we put different colleagues in the spotlight throughout the year. Because behind every clean street and container are professionals like Kees. Curious about his working day? Watch the video below.

• Intro text: It's Waste-Free Week, and that means: get more out of what you already have. What do you do with that half a courgette, that leftover pasta or that last slice of cheese? With a little creativity, you can put something new on the table with it.

It's Wastefree Week, and that means: get more out of what you already have. Because what do you do with that half courgette, that leftover pasta or that last slice of cheese? Many people throw it away. That's a shame, because with a little creativity you can put something new on the table. And that not only saves waste, but also money.

Leftovers and leftovers

We call it leftovers or leftovers. The difference? Leftovers are ingredients that have not been used completely, such as a quarter of a cucumber or some overripe fruit. Leftovers are what is left over after dinner: a scoop of rice, half a casserole or a bowl of soup.

The trick is in smart storage as well as planning:

• Put leftovers in the fridge or freezer immediately. This will keep them good and avoid wasting.
• Think about what you can do with it. On the Nutrition Centre's website, you can find recipes based on what you have left in the house.
• Give old bread or ripe fruit a second life. Make croutons, French toast or a dessert with fruit through yoghurt.
• Pay close attention to hygiene. Let leftovers cool quickly, store them in a sealed container and heat through well when reheating.
• Use your senses. Dairy or cheese past its date? Look, smell and taste. Often it can still be used just fine.
• Note the difference between THT and TGT. Products with a TGT date, such as meat or fish, are no longer safe after the date.
• Know what you are storing. Leftovers will keep for about 2 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer. Put a date on it so you know where you stand.
• Reheated again? Throw away leftovers afterwards. Reheating twice is no longer safe. So eat what you heat up.

Looking for more ideas?

Download the handy graphic from the Nutrition Centre with four ideas for making up leftovers: soup, salad, omelette or stir-fry. Every leftover you save, every leftover you reuse, counts. Less food waste means less waste, less waste of raw materials and less burden on the environment. By being smart with what we already have, we make a big difference together - simply in our own kitchen. 

• Intro text: It's Waste-Free Week! You are joining in, aren't you? In the Netherlands, we waste much more food than we think. On average, as much as 33 kilos per person per year! Time to do something about it. Therefore, from 8 to 14 September, take part in the Wastefree Week.

Did you know that we often waste more food than we think? On average about 33 kilos per person per year for all Dutch together, that's 23 million meals per week. So there is still a lot to be gained. So join in the Wastefree Week from 8 to 14 September. For instance, by cooking what needs to be eaten first. And by knowing how to deal with best-before dates.

Do you sometimes doubt whether something is still good to eat? You are not the only one. A lot of food gets thrown away because we have outlived its shelf-lifedate too literally. While often more is possible than you think. If you know the difference between THT and THT, you can make the right choice faster. So you avoid waste and your food stays safe.

THT - Best before

You can often still eat products with a THT date after the date. Think of biscuits, pasta, rice, dairy or cheese. The taste or texture may deteriorate slightly, but it is usually still fine. Look, smell and taste. Does it look good? Then you can often still eat it.

TGT - Use until

This is written on perishable products, such as meat, fish and pre-cut vegetables. These products are no longer safe to eat after the date. They can make you ill. So use these products in time or freeze them before the date.

5 tips to be smart about shelf life

1. Look carefully at the type of date THT says something about quality. TGT is about safety.
2. Use your senses. With THT: Does it smell good, look good and taste normal? Then you can usually still eat it.
3. Freeze TGT products on time. Want to store them longer? Do so before the TGT date.
4. Take care after opening. A product that has been opened spoils faster. Then look not only at the date, but also at how long it has been open.
5. Use the Food Centre storage guide. In it, you can see exactly how long you can store something. Handy for the kitchen!

Wasting less together

A lot of food is thrown away unnecessarily because people do not understand the best-before date. By looking better and storing smarter, together we make a difference. That way, we can reduce waste and waste fewer raw materials. Good for your wallet and good for the environment.

• Intro text: Friday 20 September is World Clean-up Day, the world's biggest clean-up campaign. People everywhere will take to the streets to clean up litter. Lieke calls on people to help too. Adults, children, neighbours and friends: together we make the neighbourhood cleaner!

Litter does not belong on the streets or in nature. Children's mayor Lieke from Gorinchem agrees. "Animals can get entangled in it or get sick from eating microplastics. Heartbreaking," she says. "We have to do something about that!"

Together for a clean neighbourhood

Friday 20 September is World Clean-up Day, the world's biggest clean-up campaign. People everywhere will take to the streets to clean up litter. Lieke calls on people to help too. Adults, children, neighbours and friends: together we make the neighbourhood cleaner!

Together with environmental coach Nelleke, Lieke made a short video. In it, she explains why it is important to keep your surroundings clean. And that cleaning up can actually be fun - especially if you do it together.

Will you also join us on 20 September?

Grab a rubbish bag, put on gloves and go out. Together with your (grand)child, neighbourhood boy or girl, pick up litter in the street, park or around school. Together, we can make a difference. For a cleaner neighbourhood and a nicer living environment.

• Intro text: Throw packaging in the PMD bin, but only if it is really empty. Only then can we recycle and re-use the material properly. With the national campaign "As long as it goes empty! - from 25 August to 7 September, we are drawing extra attention to the proper disposal of packaging.

Did you know that one half-full package can prevent an entire container of plastic packaging, metal packaging (cans) and beverage cartons (pmd) from being recycled? Then the packaging still ends up in the incinerator - along with valuable raw materials we want to reuse. That's a shame about the effort - and the raw materials. With the national campaign "As long as it goes empty! - from 25 August to 7 September, we are drawing extra attention to the proper disposal of packaging.

Only empty packaging belongs to pmd

Throw packaging in the PMD bin, but only if it is really empty. Only then can we recycle the material properly and re-use it for new products. Squeeze, scrape, slurp or empty - it doesn't matter how you do it, as long as it is empty. This way, you prevent waste and help us separate waste better.

Why this campaign?

Many people want to separate their waste properly, but it still sometimes goes wrong. Research shows that 1 in 3 Dutch people sometimes throw away packaging that is not yet empty. And only 55% know that packaging really has to be empty before it can be disposed of with PMD.

There is also confusion about what exactly belongs to pmd. As a result, properly recyclable packaging sometimes ends up with residual waste - and valuable raw materials are still lost.

More than half of people are unsure about plastic tubs with cream cheese, for example, crisp bags with an aluminium inner layer and aluminium trays from takeaway food, for example. Many people also think you have to rinse packaging first. This is unnecessary and actually wastes drinking water.

So the will is definitely there. Three quarters of people want to do it right and say they usually empty packaging. But with the right knowledge and small actions, together we can retain more value and burn less waste.

In doubt? Check the label or our pmd list

It is not always clear what can or cannot go with the pmd. In doubt? Take a look at the separation guide or on the label of the packaging. There you will increasingly find the discard guide logo - a handy aid to help you dispose of packaging correctly.

Want to know more about the national campaign? Check out  www.verpact.nl/verpakkingleeg 

• Intro text: In the Haar neighbourhood in Gorinchem, Corrie Sterk has been involved in a clean neighbourhood since she was young. The love for a clean living environment was instilled in her from home. Read her inspiring story here.

In the Haar neighbourhood in Gorinchem, Corrie Sterk has been involved in a clean neighbourhood since she was young. She inherited the love for a clean living environment from home. "My father used to walk down the street with an empty bread bag. Anything he found on the pavement or in the bushes, he would pick up and throw in the dustbin at home. He set a good example to his five daughters. The seed was planted."  

Actively involved

Corrie - like her sisters - is still actively involved in environmental and living issues. From the Milieuwinkel in Middelburg to the Geefwinkel in Burgstraat, the involvement runs deep. "But one plastic bag on a round isn't enough nowadays. Society has changed. There is more waste ánd people's attitudes have changed. Many people think: what happens outside my door is not my concern."

Don't wait, but deal with it

Corrie thinks differently. She walks and picks up, stands in the Give shop, reports additional placements to Waardlanden - and cleans up bags and litter using her litter pass. "The lines of communication are short and clear. That makes it easy to really do something." Meetings with other zappers also give her energy to keep going. "Together you are stronger. It's nice to know you're not the only one."

Sometimes she gets strange questions. Whether she has community service. Whether she has to do this for her benefits. "No way," says Corrie. "I do this because I think it's important. Because I want to contribute to a liveable neighbourhood."

Zapping with the grandchildren

And she doesn't do it alone. Every Thursday, her grandchildren come by - and the buckets are ready and waiting. Corrie has bought special meat tongs, as they grip just a bit finer than a gripper. The children are aged between 3 and 11 and all join in. The youngest rides ahead on his tractor and points out the spots. On the way, they empty the buckets into the bins. "And when we use the litter pass at a collection container, the party is: 'I want!' 'No, it's my turn!'"

Together for a cleaner neighbourhood

Together, they keep their neighbourhood clean and set a good example. For themselves, for each other and for future generations.

• Intro text: A crazy project by group 5B of De Schakel primary school. Pupils went into the neighbourhood, investigated litter and collected bags full of it. From their finds, they made colourful whale. On 15 July, they handed over their work of art to us. A strong symbol for awareness and a cleaner environment.

Bags full of litter. An investigation into what's on the streets. And finally: a large colourful whale made from litter. Pupils from group 5b of primary school De Schakel in Nieuw-Lekkerland made serious work of it in recent weeks. On Tuesday 15 July, they handed over their work of art to us.

The pupils went into the neighbourhood themselves and investigated what kinds of rubbish lay where. From beer cups to cigarette butts, cardboard, construction waste and even an old car tyre: it was all in their own neighbourhood. They processed their findings in a report and in a striking work of art: a whale made of litter.

"When we saw what was lying around, we wanted to do something with it," says a pupil from group 5b. "It doesn't belong in nature. We wanted to make something that shows that clearly."

On 15 July, the whale was officially handed over to our director, Jürgen Rau and education officer Wessel Keizer. "What these students have done goes to the heart of our education work," says Jürgen Rau.  "They picked up litter, thought about it and turned it into something positive. That is exactly what we want to achieve with the Waste-Free Schools programme: children discovering for themselves why waste and resources matter and that every action - no matter how small - makes a difference every day. We hope this will encourage other schools to get started too. We are happy to help."

Waste-free schools programme

De Schakel's project is in line with the objectives of the Waste-Free Schools programme, through which we have supported primary schools in the region to educate about waste, the environment and behaviour since 2014. We help schools with teaching materials, collection tools, guest lessons and excursions. In return, they do not have to pay for separate waste collection. Some 80% of primary schools in the region are now affiliated. Keizer says: "We make materials and our knowledge available free of charge to schools that want to get started with waste and raw materials. Whether you are just starting out or are already more advanced - we are happy to think along with you."

The Whale of The Switch will have a visible place in our office. Not just as a work of art, but as a lasting symbol for a generation learning to look differently at waste and raw materials.

• Intro text: A broken chair, an old cabinet or a discarded table. These are things and materials that should not or do not fit in the residual waste container. And certainly don't belong on the street. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to dispose of these items properly. Much easier than you might think.

A broken chair, an old cabinet or a discarded table. These are things and materials that should not or do not fit in the residual waste container. And certainly don't belong on the street. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to dispose of these items properly. Much easier than you might think.

Give your belongings a second chance

What you no longer use may still be of value to someone else. Is it still usable? Sell it, pass it on to family or friends, or offer it via a giveaway group on social media. Stuff often quickly finds a new owner there. Of course, you can also go to the Kringloopplein or a thrift shop nearby.

Is it broken?

Then there are other solutions. Have it repaired at a workshop or repair café. Or have the old appliance taken away by the delivery person of your new purchase - many suppliers offer this service as standard. Still want to take it away yourself? Then you can go to the recycling centre with your environmental card.

Take it away yourself - with a free trailer

Items that are really no longer usable can be taken to the environmental street bring, even if you don't have your own trailer. Because did you know you can borrow a trailer for free? Simply book it in advance via waardlanden.nl/self-regulation. You may use the trailer for 2 hours to bring stuff to the environmental site.

Please note: Take your environmental pass with you when you go to the environmental street or Kringloopplein. You will need the pass for access.

Can't get away?

Then you can make a bulky waste appointment. Go to waardlanden.nl/grofvuil How this works and what conditions it must meet. This will prevent it from being left standing.

Together, we keep our streets tidy - and ensure that valuable resources do not go to waste.

• Intro text: Fags on the street? You really can't. Join the region's big cigarette butts clean-up campaign on 5 July and, together with Waardlanden and ABR Activation, send a clear message: butts don't belong in the environment.

Fags on the street? You really can't. On Saturday 5 July, it is time to do something about it together. Waardlanden and ABR Activatie will organise a street littering campaign in Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden. With this regional action, they join the global clean-up campaign PeukMeuk 2025, which calls attention to pollution caused by cigarette filters. Residents are urged to participate: collect dry cigarette butts and hand them in at one of the drop-off points on that day. In this way, together we will start the movement, step by step, towards a more conscious use of cigarette butts and a clean and safe region.

Butts: small waste, big pollution

What starts small grows into a major environmental problem. One cigarette filter pollutes as much as 8 litres of water and remains in nature for 12 to 15 years. During that time, toxic substances leak into the soil and water, harming animals, plants and people. Yet thousands of cigarette butts end up in the green, on the street or in the well every day.
'Many people don't think about how harmful such a small cigarette butt can be,' says environmental coach Nelleke Gouw of Waardlanden. 'But it's really shocking when you know what's inside: heavy metals, ammonia, arsenic, you don't want that in the environment. With PeukMeuk 2025 we don't just want to clean up cigarette butts, but above all make people aware and encourage them to change their behaviour. Because every cigarette that does not end up on the street makes a difference.

Cleaning up cigarette butts together and making them visible

Take action, collect dry cigarette butts and hand them in at one of the drop-off points in the region on 5 July. Of course, we will provide enough grabbers and gloves. During the clean-up campaign, the collected butts will not just be thrown away. They will be given a prominent place in the transparent No Waste Chair by artist Kees Dekkers. This chair made of recycled plastic has a capacity of 95 litres and literally shows how many cigarette butts end up in public spaces every day. The fuller the chair, the stronger the signal: this pollution must stop.

Submission deadline 5 July

Everyone can participate. Residents can start collecting dry cigarette butts in advance. Drop off the butts on 5 July at one of the following locations:

• 09.30 - 10.30 am: Vianen - Voorstraat, near the town hall 

• 11.30 am - 12.30 pm: Arkel - H. de Vriesplein shopping centre  

• 13:30 - 14:30: Gorinchem - Schoutstraat, next to Piazza Center shopping centre  

• 15:30 - 16:30: Hardinxveld-Giessendam - Passage between Dirk van den Broek and Albert Heijn store  

Free pocket ashtrays will also be handed out during the campaign, so that smokers can clean up their cigarette butts easily and neatly from now on.

Hey Pervert! - Behaviour change campaign

The clean-up campaign is part of the wider campaign Hey Pervert!. The campaign shows how harmful cigarette butts on the street, in the well or in the green spaces are. With eye-catching posters, flyers, social media and an online cigarette quiz, residents are challenged to test their knowledge and discover what they can do themselves. Together, we can change habits and contribute to a litter-free and clean region. Because throwing your cigarette butt on the street? No way!More information on the Hey Viespeuk campaign can be found here.

• Intro text: Residents of the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden have an environmental pass per household. This pass belongs to the home. From 1 July 2025, it will cost €15.00 to apply for a replacement environmental pass if the pass is lost or broken.

Residents of the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden have an environmental pass per household. This pass belongs to the home. From 1 July 2025, it will cost €15.00 for a replacement environmental pass in case of loss or damage.

Why this change?

Replacing an environmental pass costs money: for creating, processing, sending and handling by our staff. Therefore, from 1 July you will pay a €15 fee if your pass is lost or broken. This keeps the system fair and keeps costs manageable for all residents. Only those who need a new pass will pay for it. At the same time, we want to use this measure to encourage residents to use their pass carefully. 

The pass is important: you need it to open the collection containers for residual waste and VGF waste and for access to the environmental centres. So keep it well, like other important passes. 

Keep the environmental pass safe

Your environmental pass is an important one. The pass is linked to your residential address and is for your household only. 

A few storage tips: 

• Keep the pass in a fixed place in the house.
• Keep the pass away from magnets.
• Do not lend the pass to anyone.
• Do not make a hole in the pass, the pass will no longer work. 

The environmental pass belongs to the house and stays there when you move. 

The environmental passes comply with the national standard for waste passes and registration systems, STOSAG. Unfortunately, misuse remains possible. It is therefore important that you make sure your environmental card does not end up in the wrong hands. You don't just hand over your house key or PIN card either. So handle your environmental card carefully and don't give others the chance to misuse it. Someone who misuses the environmental card is punishable by law.
Have you lost your pass or suspect fraud? Then report it and apply for a new pass. We will block your old pass immediately. Visit contact on our customer contact centre: 0183 68 11 11. We will be happy to help you.

Moving house and no pass in the house?

Have you moved house and there is no environmental pass in your new home? If so, you may be entitled to a new free environmental pass. Call our customer contact centre on 0183 68 11 11 during office hours. We will be happy to help you.

Requesting a replacement pass

From 1 July 2025, apply for a replacement environmental pass via our website or Waardlanden app. Payment is via iDEAL.

Frequently asked questions about a replacement environmental pass