Plastic bottle consumption in the Netherlands 2017, by type

In the Netherlands, the consumption of big and small plastic bottles combined reached around 1.4 billion units in 2017. During that year, 650 million big bottles were consumed in the Netherlands, and even larger amounts of small bottles were calculated. Plastic bottles make up for a large part of the plastic waste on the planet. For instance, they immensely affect wildlife in the oceans.

Recycling in the Netherlands

Whilst plastic items biodegrade at varying rates, it is estimated that a common plastic bottle takes up to 450 years on average to degrade. In 2016, the recycling rate of packaging waste in the Netherlands equaled to 72.6 percent. Compared to its neighbors, the recycling waste was higher than in Germany, yet lower than in Belgium. Whilst the recycling rate of packaging waste in the Netherlands was decreasing since 2009, the amount of plastic package used was consistently increasing in the country.

Do you buy plastic bottles?

This rise went hand in hand with an increase in the amount of plastic waste per capita from 2009 to 2016. Available data from across the sea can illustrate why plastic bottles are still consumed to such proportions nowadays. In the United Kingdom, a large proportion of respondents declared that they bought plastic bottles very frequently in 2017. Although environmental conscious is rising, plastic waste is still, to this day, a very present issue.