DEN HAGUE: April 10, 2018. According to the Netherlands Statistical Office, some 9.0 percent of all materials entering the Dutch economy are recycled into secondary products and the country has one of the highest recycling rates in Europe with 80 percent of all waste - 59 billion kilos - reused.

The government has set a goal to have a circular economy in 2050 by recycling, remaking and reusing four material groups of which 74 percent are imports: biomass, fossil energy materials, metals and non-metallic minerals.

Nearly one-third of this volume is re-exported without undergoing substantial processing and the remainder is made into products. Relative to the total Dutch consumption of 221 billion kilos, the share of recycled materials is currently 22 percent.

The government says other strategies are required to make its planned transition to a circular economy including a more efficient use of materials, product improvements to extend their lifecycle, and producing plastics from biomass instead of crude petroleum.

In a related move, Nestlé says it wants to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable or re-usable by 2025 with none of its packaging, including plastics, ending up in seas, oceans and waterways.

Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider explained: “Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today. Tackling it requires a collective approach.”

In a bid to develop a circular economy, the company says it wants to eliminate non-recyclable plastics; encourage the use of plastics that allow better recycling rates; and eliminate or change complex combinations of packaging materials.

Next steps for Nestlé include developing effective collection, sorting and recycling schemes worldwide; exploring different packaging solutions to reduce usage, facilitate recycling and eliminate plastic waste; labeling product packaging with recycling information for consumers; and promoting a market for recycled plastics.