The production of clothing, furniture, and consumer electronics involves cutting costs to the maximum extent possible, thus also cutting down on quality. The result is products that don’t last very long. The negative effects involved are also not factored into the price. If we want to make our economy sustainable, this must be stopped.
Consumers are enticed to buy, and to quickly throw away
A low price and low quality of clothes, for example, leads to them being thrown away; this is referred to as ‘fast fashion’. But ‘fast furniture’ and single-use electronics are also booming. Consumers lack the necessary information for making deliberate, sustainable choices from the overall range of products available. They are also constantly enticed – for instance by rock-bottom offers – to purchase throw-away products.
Start phasing out the throw-away society right now
The Rli advocates tackling the problem along several tracks simultaneously. The Dutch government should push within Europe for stringent requirements as regards product sustainability, lifespan, and reparability. Legislation – at both EU and national level – must be introduced leading to ‘truer’ pricing, as well as more information for consumers about the sustainability of products. The Rli also proposes introducing a lifespan and repair label, with information about the expected useful life and reparability of products. Among other things, it also recommends discouraging rock-bottom offers and advertisements for throw-away products.
Promote repair, reuse, and recycling
The Rli believes that the government should start striving, as soon as possible, for longer product life by promoting repair and reuse. This can be done by ensuring that a fully-fledged second-hand market develops, and that repairing broken products becomes normal and affordable. The first step would be to eliminate the VAT on repairs. Producers, in turn, must be made more responsible for recycling their products at the end of their lifespan. This should be arranged in close consultation with the municipalities, which also have an important role to play in this regard.
Meeting on afternoon of Wednesday 7 February 2024
The Rli will be holding a meeting about its advisory report Phasing Out the Throw-away Society in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon, 7 February 2024. We look forward to discussing the report with you then. Be sure to mark the date in your diary now! We hope you will be able to attend. Further information about the programme and the speakers is in Dutch on the Rli-website.
Read the press release ‘Advisory board: Stop the throw-away society’
Read more about the advisory report Phasing Out the Throw-away Society
For more information about the advisory report, please contact the project leader, Bas Waterhout, at bas.waterhout@rli.nl, or on +31 (0)6 21178802.