The scrapping of the deposit on plastic bottles will be postponed for at least a year, junior environment minister Wilma Mansveld told parliament in a briefing.

Earlier this month, Dutch local councils called for a delay in the plan, saying there are too many uncertainties about what was being put in its place. The councils say there is a lack of clarity about the way plastic will be collected for recycling and want to delay the move to January 2016.

At least one condition attached to the move has not been achieved, Mansveld said. The packaging industry had promised to remove pvc from packaging material but that has not happened.

Cost

There are also concerns about the cost of scrapping the deposit system. Research published in early April by environmental research group CE Delft said the cost analysis was wrong and that some costs associated with collecting deposit bottles were ‘systematically increased’.

Mansveld told parliament she will look at plan again in June 2015.

The drinks and packaging industry lobbied hard to have the deposit system on bottles bigger than 0.5 litres scrapped, saying there would be major cost advantages.

Environmental groups oppose the plan, saying scrapping deposits will reduce the number of bottles being recycled.