Rijkswaterstaat

The Circular Economy and Waste Division of Rijkswaterstaat is the knowledge center for the circular economy and waste. Our goal is to close material loops and thereby bring us closer to a circular economy—an economy in which we use fewer and fewer primary raw materials, prevent waste generation as much as possible, and reuse waste in high-value applications, with minimal harm to the environment.

We are the knowledge partner of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) and other departments within Rijkswaterstaat, and we work closely with other government agencies and private-sector partners. Our primary activities are:

• Helping to implement the Government-wide Circular Economy Program, including the “From Waste to Raw Material” initiative. This program focuses on waste prevention and recycling by municipalities and the private sector.
• Together with chain partners, we are working to close material or product chains by implementing projects in the areas of eco-design, sustainable procurement and recycling chains such as plastics and textiles.
• Co-execute the broad approach to litter and the development and implementation of a litter approach for the dry RWS area, including a litter framework.
• Supporting the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the development of policy, laws, and regulations, as well as in the implementation of policy.
• Monitoring waste (policy) in the Netherlands.
• We actively make accumulated knowledge and expertise available to Rijkswaterstaat, target groups in the market, governments and civil society organizations through meetings, our Waste Management Helpdesk, various websites, social media and maintaining contacts with target groups.

For more information, visit our website.