"GIVE PLASTIC WASTE A NEW LIFE", says this poster in Dutch. At this very moment, a national Plastic Heroes campaign is inspiring the population of the Netherlands to collect all plastic waste on a completely voluntary basis.

"Plastic bags, magazine wrappers and all kinds of packaging for supermarket vegetables will also be recycled from now on," says Sven Noordhoek of Nedvang, the organization that represents the Dutch packaging industry. Together with official bodies, Nedvang designed the infrastructure for the collection of both household and commercial waste in the Netherlands.

The Ministry of the Environment has set the packaging industry the ambitious targets of 38% recycling of plastic packaging by 2009 and 42% by 2012 - objectives that are far above the European targets.

via hollandtrade