Van Veldhoven to revisit Trimbos advice on Dutch deposit-return lottery

Dutch climate and green growth minister Stientje van Veldhoven said she will revisit advice from the Trimbos Institute on the deposit-return lottery and will again raise concerns about gambling addiction with the parties involved. She spoke during a committee debate on 8 September; the Tweede Kamer published the report of the debate on circular economy on 21 October 2026. The minister did not commit to halting the lottery.

During the debate, Kostić of the Partij voor de Dieren asked the minister to stop the lottery and to look again at the advice of the Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (ILT), and requested a letter to the Tweede Kamer on the matter. Van Veldhoven said the Trimbos Institute advice had been issued under an earlier minister. She said she wants to study the advice again and to bring the concerns about gambling addiction to the attention of the parties involved.

The debate also covered the role of the ILT in the creation of the deposit-return lottery. In earlier reporting by NOS, the regulator was said to have been kept out of certain consultations on the lottery. Kostić asked questions about how the parties involved had handled the regulator's objections. The discussion therefore concerned both the possible effects of the lottery on gambling behaviour and the way the decision-making process had proceeded.

The deposit-return lottery is set up as a means to encourage the collection of deposit packaging, with consumers able to win prizes through a lottery. Criticism from experts focuses in part on the risk that such an approach normalises gambling and can have unwanted consequences for vulnerable groups. The debate has so far not led to an announced halt of the deposit-return lottery. Van Veldhoven's undertaking is that she will study the Trimbos advice again and bring the concerns to the attention of the parties involved.