Dirk Groot, a 57-year-old litter picker from Purmerend, has figures showing that the deposit on drinks bottles and cans has cut litter on Amsterdam’s streets.
Groot photographs every item he picks up, and his phone logs the place, time, brand and packaging in a database.
In early October he repeated a 21.6 km route from IJburg to the Vondelpark that he first walked in 2017.
Far fewer bottles and cans than in 2017
In 2017 he filled more than 13 rubbish bags with drinks packaging. This time he needed three at most.
He found 45 plastic bottles and 55 cans, a tenth of the cans and an eighth of the bottles he found on the route in 2017.
Deposits arrived on plastic bottles in 2021 and on cans in 2023, and JA21, an opposition party on the city council, wants them scrapped.
Open bins and coffee cups
Of the 181 bins he photographed, 20% were standing open, but he found litter next to only two of them.
He picked up 160 drinks cups, more than bottles or cans, and wants the deposit scheme expanded, not abolished.
Check out our guide to sorting and recycling your rubbish in Amsterdam.