Albert Heijn now charges a deposit on plastic bags
Albert Heijn is now charging a deposit on plastic bags, after the plastic bags in the fruit and vegetable section were previously removed and replaced with reusable nets. You could get those nets for free for a limited time when they were introduced, but you now have to pay for them. All measures designed to encourage consumers to become more aware of the plastic waste problem—and they seem to be working well.
You only pay the deposit on the bags when doing your grocery shopping online: 35 cents in total for all the bags included with the delivery. If you return them for recycling with your next delivery, you get the 35 cents back, even if you return more or fewer bags. The company wants to contribute to a better climate this way, spokesperson Anoesjka Aspeslagh says in AD.
Not the first
Albert Heijn is not the first to do this; other delivery services already do it. Grocery delivery service Picnic has used exactly the same system, also charging 35 cents, from the very beginning, and sees Albert Heijn following suit as proof that it is a good idea. That is what their spokesperson Romke Spierdijk says, explaining that 80 percent of the bags are returned and turned into plastic granules that form the basis for new plastic bags. Jumbo also already delivers groceries ordered online to customers’ homes in bags for which customers pay a deposit.
Clean stream
An additional advantage is that all these bags are identical, meaning that, according to Spierdijk, this waste stream is therefore very ‘clean’. Everything can be recycled together. Albert Heijn following suit means approximately 31 million additional bags per year.
The numbers remain bizarre. The deposit system will ensure that less plastic ends up in a different waste stream where it cannot be recycled, but it would be even better if fewer plastic packages were used altogether—especially around other plastic packaging.
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Source: AD, image: Albert Heijn
