Resource Policy Plan
The municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel is working on better separation and collection of household waste. To this end, the college and then the municipal council adopted a raw materials policy plan on September 19, 2019.
In this plan, the municipality outlines how it intends to handle the collection, collection and processing of household waste in the future. Alderman Andries Bouwman: "We want to encourage and offer our residents the service to separate household waste even better. In this way, valuable raw materials such as bio-waste, paper and cardboard, textiles and glass are saved for reuse and the amount of residual waste is reduced."
From 136 to 30 kg of residual waste
The college concurs with the council's desire to follow the national environmental From Waste to Resource (VANG) targets. The raw materials policy plan aims to reduce the amount of household residual waste (fine, bulky, construction and demolition) from the current 136 kg to 30 kg per inhabitant per year by 2025 and to separate 90% of waste. Recent separation tests show that much vegetable, fruit and garden waste, old paper, textiles, glass, small chemical waste and electrical appliances still mistakenly disappear in the sorting bin (gray container). These raw materials cannot be separated for recycling because it is technically impossible or because paper and textiles, for example, become contaminated. Raw materials that disappear in the sorting bin then disappear with the residual waste and are incinerated.
Encouraging residents to separate waste better
The starting point for the new waste collection is to encourage and service residents as much as possible to offer separate household waste. The first step to enable optimal waste separation is to ensure that the basic infrastructure and services are in place to enable optimal waste separation. In addition, it is very important to increase our residents' knowledge and awareness of waste prevention and waste separation.
These measures include:
- Extending the opening hours of the environmental street and composting site;
- Expanding the numbers of glass and textile containers across the municipality;
- Township-wide collection of scrap paper;
- A 0 fee for when residents offer their waste separately at the environmental site;
- Provide customization for households who can demonstrate, with justification, why they are structurally unsuccessful with the new method of collection;
- Allowing households that use disposable diapers, incontinence materials and/or ostomy bags to dispose of this specific waste stream separately at the environmental site.
The municipality has phased in a new method of waste collection. With Frequency Controlled Separation, we started working on the From Waste to Resource (VANG) targets. 'Frequency Controlled Separation' is based on encouraging better separation by adjusting the waste calendar with a volume incentive. We collect residual waste less often and the container with bio-waste is emptied more often.
In 2019, we started an awareness campaign and put the facilities in order. At the same time, in 2019 and 2020, we prepared the new method of collection Frequency-driven separation and started it in 2021.
Cost
Implementation of this resource policy plan means an increase in the waste collection fee because various measures must be taken to improve waste separation. If the municipality were to do nothing in the area of better waste separation, this would also mean a substantial increase in the waste disposal levy. This is due to national taxes on household residual waste and waste management costs. In addition, the raw materials that now disappear in the sorting bin such as bio-waste, old paper, glass, textiles, small chemical waste are not properly reused.