Municipality of Aa en Hunze introduces chips and barcodes for waste containers
The municipality of Aa en Hunze has decided to take action against the increasing number of 'illegal' waste containers in circulation. An estimated 1300 containers are placed along the streets per collection round that do not belong there, resulting in an excess of 450 tons of waste per year. This unwanted behavior costs the municipality an additional €62,000 annually. In response, the municipality has decided to equip all green, gray, and orange containers with a chip and a barcode, which will be linked to the home address.
Councilor Richard Heling explains: "There are containers that are emptied multiple times, and containers in use for which no waste disposal fee is paid. The chip is intended to ensure fairness and transparency in the waste processing process."
The illegal placement of containers often occurs because people request a free second container for items such as diapers but forget to return it once it is no longer needed. Containers are also sometimes purchased through platforms such as Marktplaats, and containers from surrounding municipalities are secretly placed over the border into Aa en Hunze.
The chip and barcode on the container are registered when the garbage truck lifts the container. This allows the system to check whether the container has been emptied before and whether it actually belongs to the municipality of Aa en Hunze. The number of kilos is not recorded; the aim is not to introduce DIFTAR (paying per kilogram of waste).
The process of chipping the containers is expected to take six more weeks. From January 1, 2025, the new waste system will be in effect. The municipality hopes to save €8 to €10 per household annually with this measure and aims to achieve the national target of 100 kilograms of residual waste per inhabitant per year by 2027, although this is an ambitious goal.
Councilor Heling emphasizes that the privacy of residents is not compromised, as the chips are only linked to the home address and do not contain any personal information.
