First deposit collection machine in Dutch hospital

The first deposit collection machine in a Dutch hospital has opened, at Franciscus in Rotterdam. The top clinical teaching hospital Franciscus has a huge number of visitors and patients and employs over 4,900 employees, 340 doctors and 120 volunteers. From now on, they can hand in their deposit packaging at the hospital. The collection machine is in the central hall next to the restaurant, so that the bottles and cans with deposit can be handed in immediately after consumption. When they are handed in, you can choose to have the deposit paid out via Tikkie or donate the money to the Franciscus Foundation. There was already a donation point for deposit packaging, with the deposit also going to the Foundation. With the collection machine at Franciscus Guest House, there will be the option of getting the deposit back directly. 

St. Francis has long been concerned with sustainability and aims to reduce its ecological impact by meeting the sustainability goals of the Green Deal 3.0. This is invested in its own sustainability policy with pillars such as promoting circularity and reducing primary resource consumption and waste. "St. Francis is not only a progressive top clinical teaching hospital that provides quality care, but we also want to make a positive impact on the environment and the community. The placement of the deposit machine contributes to our sustainable goals. We are pleased to be the first hospital with a collection machine." explains Esther Olman, Program Manager for Sustainability and Environment at Franciscus. 

A hospital is a busy place where many people come every day and where many deposit bottles and cans are also bought at the restaurant. If people cannot easily return their empty bottles or cans here, because hospitals are often not centrally located around a supermarket, for example, a lot of valuable packaging goes to waste. Therefore, it is important to have good facilities for the return of deposit packaging in hospitals as well. Jeroen Hillen, director of Deposit Money Netherlands, is pleased with the collection machine in Franciscus Gasthuis: "It is good that visitors, staff and patients now have the option to return bottles and cans and get their deposit back at the hospital. With this, we expect to collect even more deposit packaging for recycling. And with the option for donation, the deposit can benefit where it was purchased." 

After returning a bottle or can to the machine, the choice follows to get the deposit back via Tikkie back or to donate the money to the Franciscus Foundation. This is the charity of Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland. Together with donors, the foundation is committed to making the stay of patients and their loved ones more pleasant, both during visits and short or long admissions. With the deposit money donated, the Foundation can, for example, provide homely furnished family rooms on nursing wards and well cared for waiting rooms at outpatient clinics. 

In the Netherlands, more than 700 million large plastic bottles, 1 billion small plastic bottles and over 2.5 billion cans are put on the market every year. Deposit Money Netherlands is responsible for the deposit system on plastic bottles and cans. They aim for more recycled material and less waste in nature. The goal is to take back 90% of all cans and plastic beverage bottles (small and large plastic bottles, with and without a deposit) and thus contribute to a cleaner Netherlands. 

In the Netherlands, there is a deposit on small and large plastic bottles of soft drinks and water. And on all metal beverage containers with a capacity of up to 3 liters. Producers of 100% juice can voluntarily participate in the deposit system. Thus, even more deposit products can be collected and recycled.