You pay waste substances levy for the costs incurred by your municipality and Waardlanden to collect and process household waste and raw materials. The waste collection levy is a charge levied by your municipality.

Together with your municipality, we do our utmost to keep collection and disposal costs manageable. Nevertheless, costs are rising. Reasons for this are:

  • Rates for residual waste disposal and central government taxes to burn residual waste continue to rise.
  • Inflation and rising staff and fuel costs, among others, are increasing the cost of collection and processing.
  • GFT, pmd, glass and paper contain more and more pollution. It costs more and more to remove this pollution in order to recycle these streams.

As a resident, there is little you can do about rising taxes and inflation. But you can separate your waste properly and cleanly. Gft without plastic, pmd without residual waste, clean and dry paper, clean textiles: your efforts are indispensable! Find out why separating waste and resources is important.

Recycling rate for residual waste

Since 1 January 2024, the municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Molenlanden will calculate the waste charges in a new way. You have an influence on the amount of part of the waste charges. A part is fixed and a part is variable. This variable part is called the recycling rate. Do you separate raw materials well and have little residual waste? Then your costs will be lower than if you have a lot of residual waste. Your municipality takes into account people with a lot of medical waste, litter pickers and people with insufficient income.
Residents of Vijfheerenlanden municipality have no influence on part of the waste collection fee. This municipality will not calculate waste charges in a new way from 1 January 2024, but will decide later on the introduction of the recycling tariff.

Why have municipalities introduced the recycling tariff?

Our residual waste still contains many valuable raw materials. Plastic, food waste, textiles, cardboard, glass, paper, you name it. And that is a shame. Because we can make new products from them. That way, we save raw materials and energy. And that is better for the environment. There is also less residual waste that we have to incinerate. The recycling rate helps.

When does the recycling rate apply?

You pay the recycling fee each time you have your residual waste container emptied or throw residual waste in the collection container. You can dispose of one rubbish bag of up to 60 litres each time. Do you separate raw materials well and do you have little residual waste? Then your costs will be lower than if you have a lot of residual waste. How? Discover help & tips for less waste and even better separation.

How does the recycling rate work?

Every household pays waste charges. The municipalities of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Molenlanden have split the waste charges into a fixed part and an alternating part. This variable part is called the recycling tariff. The amount differs per household.
The fixed part is the same for everyone in your municipality. You pay this at the beginning of the year together with the municipal taxes. At the end of a year, the municipality knows what you have to pay for the varying part. So you pay this varying part afterwards. The amount depends on how often you had your residual waste container emptied or threw residual waste in the collection container for residual waste. We read this number with a chip on your residual waste container or the times you opened the residual waste container with your environmental pass.

How much is the recycling rate?

Your municipality determines the amount of the waste collection charge, i.e. both the fixed rate and the recycling rate. So for more information on the amount of the waste collection fee, please contact your municipality. The municipalities publish the rates on the municipal website:

Tariff for bulky waste

You can take bulky waste yourself to our recycling points or collected from your home. A tariff applies to residents of Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Molenlanden. The municipalities introduced this tariff to keep the cost of waste disposal manageable and to distribute it more fairly. It ensures that the 'polluter pays' and each resident pays for their own bulky waste.

> Read more about the rates for bulky waste.

Residents of Vijfheerenlanden will not have to pay separately to take away or have bulky waste collected. This municipality will decide on the introduction of these fees later.

Why is less waste important?

If we prevent waste, separate it better and reuse it more, we need to extract fewer new materials from the earth. This leaves less residual waste that we need to have incinerated. Also, the central government's incineration tax makes burning residual waste increasingly expensive. So less waste is important for the environment and for your wallet.

Want to know more?

For more information on waste charges, contact your local council.

Questions?

Do you have a question about your waste charges and recycling rate?

> Find the answers to frequently asked questions on waste charges and recycling fees.