The Netherlands – A pair of jeans should come with a Euro 2.50 deposit to encourage greater recycling, proclaims the Netherlands’ regional minister for the economy Michiel Scheffer and sustainable entrepreneurship specialist Professor Jan Jonker.
The levy proposed on the 20 million pairs of jeans sold each year in the Netherlands would repair a hole in the recycling market as far as jeans are concerned, it is argued. ‘Only 15% are reused, and a deposit scheme could increase the rates,’ according to Scheffer and Jonker.
Dutch member of parliament Yasemin Ãegerek supports the idea. ‘Annually, 140 million kg of waste that could be used as raw materials for other products disappears in the garbage,’ she says. ‘We need a cultural shift. I believe in the system of deposits, including for jeans.’
As a next move, Scheffer says he intends to talk to major Dutch paper mills in the Gelderland province in the east of the country about ‘constructing a pilot plant for recycling textiles’.
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