Coffee pods and tea bags Coffee cups/capsules are expressly excluded from this Green Deal.

Green Deal for coffee pods and tea bags in VGF waste

The Green Deal for coffee pods and tea bags in VGF waste is a voluntary agreement between the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Dutch Coffee and Tea Industry Association, the Dutch Waste Management Association and private parties. The partners have three objectives for this Green Deal (as indicated in Article 1):
(1) Over the course of 2021, at least 75% of the total potential impact of coffee pods and tea bags offered on the Dutch market will be compostable so they can go in vegetable, garden and fruit waste (VGF waste).

(2) If the affiliated companies show that they have collectively achieved the aforementioned target of 75%, the coffee pods and tea bags will be moved from the ‘no’ to the ‘yes’ side of the yes/no VGF list.
(3) As many companies operating in the Netherlands as possible will switch to compostable coffee pods and tea bags for the Dutch market. In addition, the Dutch Coffee and Tea Industry Association [Koffie & Thee Nederland] will also endeavour to convince other relevant industry associations in Europe of the importance of the objective of this Green Deal.
The term of this Green Deal is 3 years from the date of its entry into force.
Article 2 may contain technical regulations.
In Article 2, the private parties commit to switching to compostable coffee pods and/or tea bags and to demonstrate this with a statement including indication of the production process switchover date, the minimum number of kilograms of dry product on an annual basis and an estimate of the average leadtime from production until the compostable products are generally available in retail, as well as a statement that the material meets all recent legal standards (at least EN 13432 and Regulation 10/2011).
Articles 3 to 5 set out the actions of the other Parties. Article 3 gives the actions of the Dutch Coffee and Tea Industry Association, including collecting the statements from the Companies, monitoring the statements for changes and working to encourage companies in the Netherlands that produce and/or sell coffee pods and/or tea bags to make their product lines compostable. Article 4 covers efforts by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, including sampling, amending the VGF list on achievement the agreed amount of compostable coffee pods and tea bags, communication regarding the updated VGF list and the effort to convince other governments in Europe of the importance of this Green Deal. In Article 5, the Dutch Waste Management Association commits to creating broad support for this Green Deal amongst its members.
The text does not contain a mutual recognition clause because the Green Deal for coffee pods and tea bags in VGF waste does not require any specific evidence (such as labels or certificates), nor does it contain any agreements that could otherwise impede the free movement of goods between Member States.