What do you do with your empty can when you're hopping at a festival? So it turns out we are quite diligent about collecting and returning deposits at home, but outside the home we are a bit less diligent. A good example is a free festival in town such as the Nijmegen Four-Day Walk, Koningsdag or Pride. Maybe we loosen up because of the beers, but unfortunately a lot of deposit cans then end up on the street or in the residual waste. A shame, because aluminium is then burned, while it is a raw material that can be recycled endlessly. Saskia went out with the promotion team of Deposit Money Netherlands during Utrecht Pride to draw attention to this. All deposit cans they collected from the partying crowd went to charity: Canal Pride Foundation. Come they: three tips for returning your deposit cans at a festival!
Aluminium is worth its weight in gold (but you have to turn it in)
In cooperation with Deposit Money Netherlands
An empty can seems worthless, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, aluminium is one of the few materials you can recycle endlessly without it losing its quality. Even better: a recycled can can be back on the shelves like new within a few weeks. And recycling also requires much less energy than producing new aluminium from bauxite, the original raw material. You can read about that here, as we followed the recycling journey of a can. But if you throw a can in the regular trash or leave it on the street, it is not recycled. Then it ends up in the residual waste and is incinerated. A shame about the deposit and about such a valuable raw material.
Every Can Counts: Europe's can rescuers
Precisely because we still often go wrong with empty cans outdoors, Every Can Counts exists. This foundation wants to make it easier and more fun to hand in cans everywhere, not only at home, but also on the road, in the park or at festivals. Every Can Counts was founded in the UK in 2009 and now operates in 20 countries. They are seen as the programme that promotes the recycling of aluminium beverage cans in Europe. Their mission? To encourage as many people as possible to return their cans - wherever they are. Because every can counts, especially since aluminium can be reused endlessly.
Left: the bulk machine of Statiegeld Nederland that you see in more and more places. Right: the promotion team of Deposit Money Netherlands during Utrecht Pride. Watch the whole video here!
3 tips for turning in your can properly at a festival
So what do you do with your empty can when you are partying in the middle of a crowd? During my day with the promotion team, I discovered smart and simple ways to properly return your deposit can - even in the busiest places. Here come three tips to return your can properly at a festival.
1. Find the Deposit Promotion Team, can-mobile or bulk machine
At big events, such as Pride, the Nijmegen Marches or Kings Day, you may come across the promotional teams of Deposit Money Netherlands. These heroes with big backpacks collect deposit packaging, even in the middle of crowds. So you can just drop your empty can in their backpack. Often there is also an eye-catching ‘can-mobile’ or a temporary bulk machine nearby, like in Kroonstraat during Utrecht Pride. Moreover, everything they collect goes to charity. Double the good work.
2. Collect your deposit cans in a box, bag or backpack
Don't see a promotional team from Deposit Money Netherlands? Then get to work yourself. Put a large shopping bag or empty cardboard box in the middle of your group of friends. That way, everyone immediately knows where the empty can should go. Are you on the road or out on your own? Then put your empty cans in your rucksack. At the end of the day, hand everything in one go at a bulk machine, at the supermarket or at the stall where you bought it. Many outlets actually take returnable packaging, often in separate bins at the stall.
3. No promotion team? Put your can next to the bin
Yellow deposit bins. These are special collection points for empty cans and bottles. You throw in your deposit container, and someone who can put the money to good use can take it out through the bottom and return it to a deposit machine. Ideal if you don't want to carry around an empty deposit can yourself. No bin nearby? Then put your can in a visible place next to a waste bin. That way, you give others the chance to take it away and collect the deposit. What you should definitely not do: throw the can in the countryside or in the rubbish bin. Then you will lose the deposit and the can will still be burned.
See this cart? Then you know there is a promotional team from Deposit Money Netherlands in the neighbourhood to collect empty cans for charity!
Every can counts
So whether you're dancing at Pride, singing along on King's Day or sweating out the Four Days Marches: don't leave your empty can behind. Aluminium is too precious to burn - it can last forever, but only if you return it properly. And as you can see, that really doesn't have to be complicated. Will you also return your returnable cans neatly for recycling from now on?
Read more about Deposit Money Netherlands.
More deposit tips and facts
- Also see: handy storage containers to collect deposits at home in a proper and tidy way.
- Also see: why does the deposit machine spit out a dented can?
- Also see: Visiting the Return Shop of Deposit Money Netherlands.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl.
