Many household wastes (such as paper, plastic packaging materials, textiles, glass) you hand in separately. By separating your waste, you put less strain on the environment. Residual waste is incinerated and that is bad for the environment. In Zoetermeer we try to keep the amount of residual waste per inhabitant as low as possible.

Waste that you can't hand in separately may go with the residual waste. It goes in a gray mini-container or underground container.

Underground containers

Use your environmental pass to open the underground containers in your neighborhood. This is where you dispose of your household waste and vegetable, fruit, garden and food waste (GFT+E).

Gray and green mini-container

You use the gray container for household waste. You use the green container for vegetable, fruit and garden waste and food waste (GFT+E). The municipality comes to empty the gray container one week and the green one the next (see www.mijnafvalwijzer.nl).

Place the container on your street before 7:30 a.m. Make sure we can empty the containers properly:

  • do not stomp on waste
  • don't let trash stick out
  • close the lid

Learn more about waste separation?

Then take a look at the website of the Zoetermeer aan de bak campaign . Here we share more information about waste separation.

More about the gray and green mini-container

What to do, what not to do?

Want to know what residual waste is and isn't? You can read all about it on Milieu Centraal's website below:

Waste Separation Guide

Environmental Pass

All households in Zoetermeer receive an environmental pass from the municipality. This environmental pass also gives access to the Zelfbrengdepot. Here you can bring bulky waste and other types of waste. Have you lost your pass? Then you can request a new one.

More about the environmental pass

Environmental Islands

Zoetermeer has many environmental islands where you can hand in glass, paper, textiles and PBD (plastic, tins and drinking cartons) separately. Would you like to adopt an environmental island? You can find more information via the link below.

Adopt environmental island

Collection days

The municipality empties the gray container one week and the green one the next. On www.mijnafvalwijzer.nl you can see on which days. During holidays the collection days sometimes change. Information about changed collection days is on this website and in the City News. You can also check www.mijnafvalwijzer.nl.

Customer Service

Do you have any questions? For example, about exchanging a container or requesting an additional container for medical waste? If so, please contact Customer Service Waste Collection.