Zero Waste Expedition Plantage Amsterdam

Featured image

Reducing waste, encourage recycling, converting waste into commodities: developing a new way of sustainable waste collection and disposal.

What is the goal of the project?

The goal of the Zero Waste Expedition Plantage is to reduce waste, encourage recycling, converting waste into commodities: developing a new way of sustainable waste collection and disposal. By collecting waste by energy efficient (electrical) boats in the Plantage neighbourhood we reduce the amount of movements of garbage trucks with at least 45 a week. The electric boats (and other CO2-neutral vehicles) will bring the collected waste to a central hub. Every few weeks the waste/commodities will be recycled and new products will be created and what is left of the waste will be brought with an electric boat from the hub to a waste disposer. This will not only prevent heavy traffic in the city, but it also reduces emissions. The cultural organizations will sort their waste, make sure the reduce the amount of waste and will be Zero Waste in 2021. This is the first successful initiative in the Netherlands on this scale.

What is the result of the project?

The cultural institutions of the Plantage, with 5.1 million visitors on a yearly basis, produce 740 tons of waste a year. To compensate for the CO2 emissions associated with its transport by the neighborhood, 40 trees should be planted annually. The new approach, called Zero Waste Expedition Plantage, benefits the viability and safety in the area, and adds financial benefits. The institutions will also reduce and divide their waste even better, allowing more recycling and production of new raw materials. Once the museums and theaters are Zero Waste, the environmental gains are comparable up to 600 trees a year.

Who initiated the project and which organizations are involved?

The Zero Waste Expedition Plantage was initiated by Remco Wagemakers, Consultant and Project Manager at DPM | Duurzaamheid in Podia en Musea. ICOVA is the main partner in this project. The Zero Waste Expedition Plantage will soon start at: het Tropenmuseum, het Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, het Joods Cultureel Kwartier, Hermitage Amsterdam, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Hortus Botanicus, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, NEMO Science Museum and Royal Theater Carré. Other organizations are also welcome to join the project.

What is the next step?

The preferred next step is to implement the procedure of this project into other neighborhoods and areas and to add more organization within the Plantage to create an even bigger impact.

http://www.duurzaampm.nl/

3 Comments

Remco Wagemakers's picture
Remco Wagemakers

Dear Ludovica,
I would love to sent you more information, can you please contact me at remco@duurzaampm.nl with which information you would love to receive?
Best regards,

Remco

Ludovica Viva's picture
Ludovica Viva

Hi!
Do you also collect organic waste separately in this project? I would like to have some more information on the collection strategy and transportation via electric boats for my thesis. If you can help me with that please contact me at ludovica.viva1@gmail.com.
Thank you very much.

Best,
Ludovica

Otto Fredriksson's picture
Otto Fredriksson

Hi there!
We are a group of students from Lund University (Sweden), studying our Master in Information Systems. In one of our courses, we are doing a research about sustainable/smart cities in Europe and after reading about Amsterdam, the choice of city became easy!

By looking at this project, we see that you would fit very well in an interview about the smart city initiatives in Amsterdam from an entreprenoural point of view. We would be very grateful if you took your time to help us out answering our questions, which will take around 45 min - 1 hour.

If you would like a copy of our report when it is finished, we’ll gladly share it with you!

Please contact me as soon as possible and I will explain more: fredriksson.otto@gmail.com

Best Regards,
Cheng Ruijing
Fredrik Waldau
Otto Fredriksson
Rexhep Haliti

Topics