Dutch EfW workers strike over proposed plastic tax

The FNV Union organised a strike last week (26 March 2025) which saw six EfW sites close their doors for the day, including AEB Amsterdam.

The EfW company said: “This action is aimed at the accumulation of levies that could have major consequences for the waste and energy sector and ultimately also for the costs that citizens and companies pay for waste processing.”

The Dutch government has proposed a plastic tax – due to start in 2028 – in an attempt to raise €547 million annually.

Although the plastic industry was originally meant to be the target of the tax, the government is now looking to redirect it to the waste sector due to international competition.

Hanan Yagoubi, director of FNV Union, said: “Waste processing in the Netherlands is already the most heavily taxed in Europe.

“We have an extremely high waste tax and an unfeasible national CO2 tax. A third tax may now be added to that.

“This is the death knell for the sector. It will soon be cheaper to take your waste abroad.”

The union has called for the government to consult with the industry to draw up transition plans and to avoid imposing levies, suggesting that it instead opts for policy measures that promote waste reduction.

Yagoubi added: “We want to move towards a circular economy.

“But you don’t achieve that by levying tax on tax on tax at the end of the chain.

“Circularity really has to be achieved at the beginning of the chain, because that’s where you make the choice for the sustainable or non-sustainable alternative. This policy is bad for the wallet and the environment.”

Yesterday (1 April 2025), the union presented its manifesto to the Dutch House of Representatives and plans to take part in a committee debate on the circular economy on 16 April.

The Ministry of Finance has said that it will take the concerns of the union “seriously”.