Councilman Hubert Schokker Launches the “Voorschoten Goes for Waste Separation” Campaign

A colorful poster. With it, Councilman Hubert Schokker is launching the campaign to separate vegetable, fruit, and garden waste (VFG) from food scraps in the municipality of Voorschoten. Many residents are already sorting their waste properly. The campaign, which includes posters and social media posts, is intended to improve these efforts even further and encourage even more residents to participate.

In mid-February, the municipality of Voorschoten invited residents to participate in the online survey “Waste Separation 2023.” Approximately 1,350 residents took the time to answer the questions. Councilmember Schokker said, “The survey showed that, for various reasons, residents sometimes still have trouble separating organic waste and food scraps, which ends up in the general waste. But it’s very important to separate as much as possible and to do so correctly.”

Moisture and Fat

“Waste such as old flowers, potato peels, tea bags, or leftover pasta often contains moisture and fat,” explains the alderman. “But moisture and fat make it harder to recycle other types of waste. That’s why we’re calling on residents to separate organic waste and food scraps as much as possible. At a state-of-the-art facility in Alphen aan den Rijn, our waste is composted and fermented, producing compost and green gas—valuable byproducts for greenhouse horticulture.”

Quality

Every resident can help improve the quality of the compost. The cleaner the collected organic waste and food scraps are, the higher the quality of the final product. Councilmember Schokker: “For example, you can collect food scraps and fruit peels in a small, sealable container in a cool, dark place, which you should preferably empty every day into the green organic waste bin outside. That way, your home won’t start to smell, and you’ll also be doing your part for the environment.”

Paper and Cardboard

A lot of paper and cardboard still ends up in the general waste without people realizing it. “It’s better to save those items at home for the paper recycling bin. As long as paper and cardboard stay dry, they can be almost entirely recycled to produce new paper and cardboard. In the coming period, we’ll be raising awareness about this, including through eye-catching posters. Many residents already sort their waste. We’re very pleased about that. With this campaign, we’re going to do even better.”