NMa: Recycling Agreements Permitted

The prohibition on cartels does not apply to agreements entered into by municipalities in relation to the collection and recycling of domestic waste in accordance with the Environmental Management Act [Wet Milieubeheer ]. This appears from a decision taken by the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa).

In this decision, NMa has established that the municipalities, united in Stichting Contractpartners VAM (Stivam), have entered into agreements with the waste incinerator Essent in order to carry out their statutory duty to collect and process domestic waste properly. The agreements mean that a municipality acts as a public authority and not as a company. The agreements with regard to waste recycling therefore fall outside the prohibition on agreements that restrain competition.