Hi GuidoFox here! Wonderful that you will read this article!

The first thing what I confronted with when I grab my morning coffee in the canal area of Amsterdam is the so called bottle hunters: mostly men who are hurrying snitching in dustbins searching for used thrown away bottles.

Since the Dutch government introduces in 2021 ‘statiegeld’ for every kind of bottles and cans, the empty small ones became (also) valuable. The average amount what you are able to earn is 0,15 – 0,25 eurocent per bottle/can. The ‘time-value’ of the bottles became even higher, because the Dutch government miscalculate – with just one drop-off point per grocery store – the current long rows by the stores. Besides of that, the government took not into account the spontaneous quick buying drinks in the grocery stores were tourists or Amsterdam citizens are not carrying these bottles until they are at their hotel or home (and save the bottles for dropping them ‘efficiently’ together off). These developments have brought the effect that Amsterdam & surroundings (i.e. The Netherlands) are full-loaded with these bottle hunters.

Failed Policy

Nearly every public dustbin in Amsterdam is damaged and the streets are flooded with garbage material from broken open household bags, because of these hunting searches. The estimated costs of repairing the dustbins (senseless) and more work-overload to clean the streets are 4 million yearly for only in Amsterdam.

Failed policy is a policy that not does achieve its intended goals. It can result in wasted resources, decreased public trust and negative social or economic impacts (google AI).

The intended goal of this ‘circular’ policy is to reduce the environmental impact of useless bottles and bring them back in the economy again (recycling). The effect: rats are all over the places & the streets are full loaded with garbage, which is an environmental disaster. The extra forces to repair the public dustbins (again senseless) and clean the streets are wasted (money) resources: they could have a better destination for the public interest (economic impact). The way of aggressiveness these bottle hunters operate in the public atmosphere (they even grab your nearly empty bottle out of your hands while you are sitting in the park & have territorial fights) causes negative social impacts on the (peaceful) street dynamics and therefore results, next to not fulfilling the basic duties as a government (clean streets), in a worrying decreasing public trust in our democratic chosen institutions.

Solution: no value, no problem

The current (false) solutions, like transparent bags & (some) bottle hangers at the side of the dustbins, and yes – even the removing of the dustbins from the main shopping streets (that causes only a replacement of the problem) – doesn’t seems to work out very well.

I never saw such clean streets in my life as in Warsaw, Poland last summer where they have a system of paid recycling for only glass & high volume bottles (you use them mostly at home, i.e. no public dustbin giveaways). Even in Singapore, one of the cleanest countries in the world, they have no paid recycling at all. Look to other successful countries and follow their policy (best practices) seems the answer.

I am pro-nature, but also pro-efficiency: separate (with new technologies) all the waste at the garbage dump place (last stage). And maybe the bottle hunters – who have no real added value currently for the society – are able to work there?

Greetz,

GuidoFox – Evolve your Life!

High-End Spiritual Life Coach

www.GuidoFox.nl

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