In the Netherlands the obligation to collect throw-away materials separately, was laid down in a programme in 1995 by the Consultative Body for Waste Material (AOO). For textiles the target was set for 5 kgs per individual per year.
Apart from this programme The Dutch Ministry of Environment will create (planning 2001) a complete "waste material control plan", the so-called "Landelijk Afvalbeheersplan". The collecting and further recycling of used textiles will not be changed in or by this plan, because of the already existing method we use at present, which has been found to be the most useful. In spite of the fact that the present method has no negative consequences for the environment, DRIETEX ECO-RECYCLING is constantly on the look out for even more useful methods to decrease the final waste.
After sorting and recycling, even with the most sophisticated methods, only 3 - 5% non-useful material is left.
Therefore the Ministry of Environment should not only think about separately collecting used textiles as much as possible, but also about possibilities to sell or to use specific items. This could be done, for instance, by way of subsidies or by co-operation in the field of research on new methods of recycling. Now this problem is only in the hands of the textile-recycling branch.
