When walking around Amsterdam over the past couple of weeks, you might have noticed the bottle rack-like contraption that has been added to the side of some bins in the city centre. If you’re confused, don’t worry; the municipality has added so-called donation rings to bins in order to provide space for people to leave empty bottles and cans to which 15-cent deposits apply. 

New bottle rings on bins in Dutch capital

As of this year, a 15-cent deposit (statiegeld) has been applied, not just to large and small plastic bottles and some glass bottles, but also to cans bought at shops or supermarkets in the Netherlands. Many don’t want to bother carrying an empty bottle or can around just to reclaim their 15 cents so, in order to prevent bins in the city from becoming filled with bottles and cans than are included in the deposit scheme, the municipality has made an interesting addition to some of Amsterdam’s bins. 

Now, added to the side of over 20 bins in the heart of Amsterdam, you’ll find donation rings (doneerringen), where you can leave behind any empty bottles or cans so they can be picked up by someone else and handed in for the deposit.  

“Especially around major events, it is becoming increasingly common for waste bins to be broken open to collect returnable bottles and cans,” AT5 explains. “The so-called donation rings are there to prevent trash cans from being broken up by people who collect deposit bottles or cans to earn some extra money.”

Thumb image credit: robert coolen via Shutterstock.com.