I amsterdam - Environmental Policy

Plan Definitions
Every four years the municipality draws up an environmental policy plan. The most recent plan defines the aims of the environmental policy as making Amsterdam a clean and pleasant place to live. Businesses have to meet stringent rules, and are expected to ensure compliance. Inspections focus not only on efforts to reduce pollution, but also on things such as energy conservation, waste separation and water conservation. Another important aspect of the environmental policy is soil remediation. Large tracts of land in Amsterdam have become polluted through the centuries, and the City Council is working hard to clean up these areas. A new method of soil remediation has been developed, involving covering the polluted soil and monitoring the pollution levels. This method is currently being used on the largest clean-up project in the Netherlands, a former landfill site known as Volgermeerpolder.

Responsibility
Environment policy is a responsibility of the various boroughs. Separated domestic waste collection is practised almost everywhere. A 'recycling guide' informs citizens on matters such as bio waste, recycling, second-hand goods and the rent or repair of consumer articles. What is left in terms of city waste - around 300,000 tonnes per year - has since 1993 been incinerated in an ultramodern plant on Westpoort.

Keeping Clean
In order to keep the city clean, the Municipality deploys 30 'environmental police officers' as well as a graffiti brigade. Citizens who fail to observe the rules are fined. The Municipality deploys 15 barges which remove around 8,000 cubic metres of rubbish from the city's waters every year, together with 10,000 bicycles and 100 sunken boats. In addition, 80,000 cubic metres of silt are dredged out of the canals in order to keep the navigation channels open. The city's sewers are 3,000 kilometres long and are connected via 175 sewage pumping stations and dozens of smaller pumps to three treatment plants which process 80 million cubic metres of waste water annually.

Environmental & Building Department
The environmental and building department or Dienst Mileu & Bouwtoezicht (DMB) is responsible for implementing the environmental and building regulations in Amsterdam. These regulations relate to matters such as odour nuisance and keeping hazardous waste separate. However, the Environmental & Building Department is also responsible for providing environmental advice to the government and citizens of Amsterdam. In most neighbourhoods, an inspector holds a weekly consultation hour for this.

Contact
for questions concerning the environment, building projects in Amsterdam, or environmental policy, please contact the DMB,  Monday - Friday from 9:00 - 17:00 hours. They also have a 24-hour hotline for complaints about such things as noisy bars, strange odors or excessive dust emanating from factories in Amsterdam. Tel: 020 - 551 3456