{"id":64035,"date":"2026-01-13T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/?p=64035"},"modified":"2026-01-15T10:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T09:33:59","slug":"from-garden-hose-to-toys-this-ruins-pmd-recycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/en\/van-tuinslang-tot-speelgoed-dit-verpest-pmd-recycling\/","title":{"rendered":"From garden hose to toys: this ruins PMD recycling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PMD stands for plastic packaging, metal packaging and drinking cartons and is collected separately in many municipalities. Good, because this waste stream is easy to recycle. At the waste processor, the materials are sorted so that they can serve as new raw materials. But then it has to be the right waste. And that, unfortunately, is where things still often go wrong. Saskia took a look at PreZero in Zwolle, which further sorts PMD. And there she saw how incorrectly collected waste causes delays, dirt, damage and sometimes even dangerous situations in PMD recycling. Ai.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

This is what happens to your PMD after it is collected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In partnership with Verpact<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your full bin bag of plastic packaging, metal containers and drinking cartons is heading to the waste processor. And then? For most households, it is a blackbox<\/em>. And so we decide to take a look at PreZero<\/a>, a large waste processor in Zwolle that receives mountains of PMD waste every day. There, the PMD waste - also known as PBD in some municipalities - is sorted at lightning speed with clever techniques. Magnets take out the metal, windshifters blow up the light plastic packaging and infrared scanners recognise the different types of material. What remains are bales and containers of materials, sorted by material and sometimes also by colour. As many as 14 streams! All ready to be delivered to a recycler. Which will turn them into raw materials for packaging manufacturers, for instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is great that we can turn our PMD waste into something new such as new packaging, plastic furniture parts, building materials or aluminium for cans. But that only works if the waste is right. And unfortunately that still often goes wrong. Too often, we throw other waste in with the PMD. Not only does this contaminate good recyclable material, but it also damages the machines or even forces them to shut down temporarily. Everything then has to be cleaned up or repaired by hand. As you can imagine, this is a time-consuming and costly job. And unfortunately, the reality is that this sometimes happens several times in one day. And that's a shame, because it is easily preventable. That's why we list the biggest problem cases for you, so that you hopefully never make this mistake again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Issues<\/figure><\/div>
\"Full<\/figure><\/div>
\"PMD<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A small collection of what goes wrong with PMD recycling: the wrong materials are discarded with this waste stream, causing problems.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest \u2018jammers\u2019: what goes wrong in PMD recycling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During the tour at PreZero, common problems became immediately apparent. Some items seem harmless, but cause huge inconvenience when sorted. These are the culprits that most often cause misery:<\/p>\n\n\n\n