With the 'Tidy Up' campaign, we want to make everyone aware of the need for less waste and even better separation. Together with the municipalities, we encourage residents to reduce waste and separate waste and important raw materials even better at home. This way, less residual waste is left for incineration and as many raw materials as possible can be recycled.
Important for the environment and your wallet
With the campaign, we want to let you know what you can do at home for our environment, the environment and future generations. And that separating waste properly ensures lower costs, than if you have a lot of residual waste. Because the less often you present residual waste, the lower the variable part of the annual waste charges will be from 2024 onwards. At least, if you live in Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam or Molenlanden. This is because residents of Vijfheerenlanden do not yet get a say in a part of the waste collection levy.
> Find out more about waste charges and tariffs
Test your knowledge with the Waste Separation Quiz
Styrofoam, an empty pizza box or a broken drinking glass. Do you know what belongs in which bin? Take the quiz and find out what you already know about waste separation. At the end of the quiz, you will receive tailored advice to increase your knowledge.
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More help & tips
Meet our environmental coaches
Preventing waste and separating it properly can be quite a challenge. That is why our environmental coaches are ready to inform and help residents in the best possible way. Our environmental coaches Ingrid and Nelleke are out and about every day. You can encounter them everywhere: on the streets, at meetings and events.
Not sure about something or in doubt? Don't hesitate and ask your question online or when you come across them!
Environmental education: raising awareness and changing behaviour among young people
Learned young is done old! This, of course, also applies to reducing waste and separating raw materials properly. That is why our education officer Ozan spends much of his time at the waste-free schools. Here he teaches about resource separation. He also holds talks with management about reducing residual waste. Because sharing knowledge is very important to encourage more understanding and different behaviour.
Every day we throw away all sorts of things as waste. Plastic, food scraps, cardboard, glass, an old table, you name it. To us, it is waste, we don't want anything more with it. Yet almost all this waste can very well get a second life. It is not waste. Reuse is good for the environment. By recycling, we don't have to throw away as much as waste. So we save raw materials and energy needed to make new products.
Circular economy
When you recycle waste, you help create a clean and waste-free environment, for yourself and future generations. That is the ultimate goal of a circular economy. A world with as little waste as possible where we reuse discarded products. If you buy products that are sustainably packaged or packaging-free, you also contribute significantly to this. We will work even harder to reduce waste in the coming years. We need your help to achieve this!
Less residual waste: good for the environment and your wallet
Together with the municipalities, we encourage and help all residents with less residual waste and even better separation. To this end, the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden together with Waardlanden drew up a new waste and raw materials plan in 2021. This plan is called the Strategy Memorandum 2021-2025: Together for a waste-free and clean municipality. This plan sets out how we will reduce the amount of residual waste. We want to go from 232 kilograms in 2020 to 100 kilograms per person per year in 2025. If we prevent residual waste and reuse more of it, we need to extract fewer new materials from the earth. This leaves less residual waste to be incinerated. Also, the central government's incineration tax makes burning residual waste increasingly expensive. So less residual waste is important for the environment and for your wallet.
Find out more in the strategy note
Most waste is raw material
Some 70 per cent of our waste is raw material. Like plastic, paper, glass, garden waste and food scraps. If we separate this properly, we can reuse it. From VGF waste, for instance, we can make compost. From PMD we can make new packaging and products. And an old table gets a new life if we bring it to the recycling centre.
> Find out more about waste and resource separation
Tips and advice on waste separation?
Preventing residual waste and separating waste properly is sometimes quite a challenge. That is why our environmental coaches Ingrid and Nelleke are happy to help you with tips and advice.
Questions?
We can imagine that you have concerns and questions about policy and strategy. This is understandable. That is why you will find answers to frequently asked questions on our website.
Sixty per cent less waste in our region by 2025! How? By preventing unnecessary waste. If waste does arise, we separate it for reuse or recycling. This way, we do not waste raw materials and do not deplete the earth. We can only achieve this together. You can help too!
Looking for inspiration to avoid wasting resources? These practical tips will help you.
> Also discover tips against food waste
Tip 1 Choose reusable
Bring your own shopping bag and fruit net when you go shopping. Don't accept paper bags either. These are no better for the environment and often can only be used once.
Tip 2 Share, borrow and swap
Doing things like (garden) tools, a party tent and toys together saves money for the environment and the wallet.
Tip 3 Give away or sell
Do you no longer need a product yourself? Then don't throw it away. But give it a new life. Give it to someone else or sell it. Or bring it to the Kringlooplein, the thrift shop Or the gift shop.
Tip 4 Pimp second-hand items
Do you still have an old cabinet? Then give it a lick of paint, a different layout or different knobs. That way, you can turn something old into something new.
Tip 5 Repair broken appliances
Does a device stop working? Then don't throw it away right away. Try to repair it first, take it to a repair café or hand it in at the environmental street. So it can be recycled.
Tip 6 Save paper
Working digitally is the most normal thing in the world. And yet we use person on average 154 kilos of paper and cardboard a year. Save a lot of paper with a letterbox sticker. Such a sticker ensures fewer advertising leaflets. You can easily read the leaflets online. Listen to more tips in the podcast by Milieu Centraal.
Tip 7 Put waste in the right containers
And do you still have waste with these tips? Then throw your waste in the right containers. That way, it can be made into something new. For example, your green waste will become compost again.
Do you have questions or a practical tip of your own to share? Mail our environmental coaches, they will be happy to help you.
Preventing waste and properly separating raw materials is better for the environment and your wallet. But how? We know that reducing residual waste and separating it properly can sometimes be a challenge. That is why we would like to help you with tips and advice.
Meet our environmental coaches Ingrid and Nelleke
Waste is a big topic in our municipalities. There are many questions and ideas among residents about reducing residual waste and separating raw materials. Our environmental coaches answer questions and help gather ideas by talking to residents. In this way, we work together with you towards a clean environment and a waste-free future.
Our environmental coaches are on the road every day. You can meet them everywhere: on the street, at meetings and events. So do you not know something or are in doubt? Don't hesitate and ask your question online or when our encounter them!
Environmental coach Nelleke: 'Separating waste makes sense! All kinds of new products are made from separated waste. Reuse and recycling saves raw materials, saves energy and reduces CO2-emissions.'
> Put your question to our environmental coaches Ingrid and Nelleke
Environmental education: raising awareness and changing behaviour among young people
Learned young is done old! Of course, the same goes for reducing waste and separating raw materials properly. That is why our education officer Ozan spends much of his time at the waste-free schools. Here he teaches about resource separation. He also holds talks with management about reducing residual waste. Because sharing knowledge is very important to encourage more understanding and different behaviour.
> Find out more about environmental education
Monitoring and enforcement: preventing serious pollution
To properly implement the changes around waste collection, supervisors are important. In waste collection, we sometimes come across serious pollution. Examples include waste placed near the collection containers and dumped waste in public spaces. Putting waste next to a collection container is prohibited. Apart from the high clean-up costs for this offence, collection containers can be difficult or sometimes not even emptied. Side deposits create a messy street scene and are bad for the safety and public health of a neighbourhood. They create litter, pests and dangerous situations. Moreover, they lead to loss of resources. Our supervisors do all they can to stop that. Of course, you can also contact them with your questions about waste and raw materials.
Waardlanden handles the collection of household waste and raw materials for the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Molenlanden and Vijfheerenlanden.
At Waardlanden, we ensure that your business waste is collected smartly and processed responsibly. From waste collection to smoothing and sweeping business premises - we offer tailor-made solutions to suit your business.
Curious about the possibilities? Call us at 0183 73 22 50 or schedule an appointment with our business advisor. Together, we will look at the best solution for your business!