A Brit who recently visited Amsterdam has described nightmare scenes in the iconic canal city, with litter “spread around” the streets as if “whole bins had been overturned. The tourist, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Express: “It wasn’t like normal litter, where you’d find bits and bobs here and there, but whole bins strewn across one bit of pavement. While it didn’t ruin their holiday in Amsterdam and it did appear that “the local council sent people around each morning to deal with whatever had happened the previous night,” they did share concern about the amount of rubbish piling up overnight.
They added: “It was so strange how much had accumulated overnight – it was like whole bins had been overturned onto the street and spread around.” They said that while the litter thankfully did not smell, they did subconsciously hold their breath when walking nearby and gave her a bad impression of the area. Pictures provided by the tourists show piles of rubbish on the pavement, litter scattered near bins and even an abandoned supermarket trolley filled with what appeared to be garbage. This comes after locals were left furious last summer following invasions of seagulls and rats due to piles of waste left by visitors, particularly in the wake of Amsterdam’s Pride celebrations, prompting a group of 38 residents to write an open letter to the Het Parool newspaper.
They branded the crisis as the “number one annoyance for the umpteenth summer in a row”, describing how they lived “on a rubbish dump” that has “become one of the dirtiest [cities] in the world”.
Last year, €12million (£10.2million) was pledged to tackle what officials have dubbed “overtourism”. However, locals complained that not enough is being done to tackle overflowing bins and pests.
Speaking to The Express, Professor of Public Health at the Univerity of Hertfordshire, Andrew Jones, shared his concerns about the extent of litter on Amsterdam’s streets – the effect it could have on tourism, and on people’s health.
Prof Jones warned: “Streets full of litter will affect how people view a city. It will affect the attractiveness of the city […] as it doesn’t feel good to be walking around somewhere which is covered in litter. If word gets out, people will be less inclined to visit.”
While the situation is unlikely to be so severe that Brits would cancel their holidays to Amsterdam, “litter is always a health risk when it’s in the streets,” he explained.
He added: “It’s attractive to flies and rats. Where you’ve got organic material like food, it will decompose, and flies and rodents love that. [As a result,] their populations increase as they have a fantastic food supply.”
Rats spread Weil’s disease, a blood infection that causes symptoms including a high temperature, diarrhoea, body aches and pains, and jaundice and requires antibiotic treatment. Transferred through rat urine, Weil’s disease can “be quite serious and can be fatal in humans.”
Salmonella is also a concern. It is spread through direct contact when rats walk on surfaces used by humans, such as tables. Flies are also capable of spreading E. coli, which has such a fast onset that if a tourist comes into contact with the bacteria on the first day of their seven-day holiday, the second half of their trip could be ruined by vomiting, diarrhoea, and fatigue.
Then there is the risk of injury from the litter itself, which could contain broken glass and needles. “This is particularly concerning given that you’ve got other unpleasant things in the litter which can enter the body via a cut,” explained Prof Jones.
The litter problem is also seriously affecting Amsterdam’s wildlife. Last month, New Scientist reported that coots are building their nests with discarded plastic, including Covid-19 facemasks, 1994 chocolate wrappers in the city, and even a 30-year-old polystyrene burger box.
“All of the concerns that we have for humans will apply to wildlife as well,” added Prof Jones. “Everything we would be worried about is a potential risk to wildlife. Whatever is in the litter could be consumed as part of their foraging.”
The professor advises tourists in Amsterdam to avoid litter, “which can be difficult when it’s ubiquitous,” and to practice basic hand hygiene.
“Just like we were all doing during the Covid pandemic, make sure we wash our hands, take sanitiser with us when out and about. This is the best thing you can do to protect yourself.”
Express contacted Amsterdam City Council, which named a series of causes behind the litter in the city. A spokesperson said: “A combination of factors is causing parts of Amsterdam to be unclean. This is especially true in the city center, but also in other busy parts of the city.
“In many areas of the city center, we collect waste using bags. Since the introduction of a deposit system for small plastic bottles and cans, these items are being removed from bins and bags. This happens even more often in the center when residents and businesses place their waste bags on the street in the evening. The municipality collects the bags the next morning. In the meantime, collectors—as well as birds and rats—have the entire evening to tear open the bags. This leads to a lot of litter.”
Another cause, they added, is tourism, as they said: “Large numbers of visitors during holiday periods and the rise in food shops catering to those crowds lead to increased (street) litter.” Businesses, the city council said, “are illegally placing their waste on the street”.
Due to the crowds, it’s difficult to collect additional waste in the city center after the morning, the spokesperson added.
In terms of measures the municipality is taking, “underground containers are often not feasible in the center”, the council said. They continued: “Public space is limited, they obstruct traffic visibility, quaysides aren’t strong enough, and in many locations it’s not possible to access or park with large vehicles. That’s why we have placed temporary above-ground containers. These are working well, and this summer we will add thirty more.
“We’re combining the routes of garbage trucks and street cleaning crews to immediately sweep up smaller litter after the garbage bags are picked up. We’re mainly doing this in areas where street collection with loose bags still takes place.”
The council is also deploying additional cleaning crews and has launched campaigns targeting residents, encouraged to leave their bags outside their homes at the “right time”. Other measures aimed at tackling the littering and rubbish in the streets include more and larger waste bins in public spaces such as parks and “increased communication using signs, banners, posters, and online content on and around waste bins”.
Finally, the spokesperson said they are also phasing out bag collection: “Switching to containers, as in the rest of the city, is a solution. This is challenging in the center, but in the short term, we are looking at where we can place underground or above-ground containers, possibly by extending the walking distance to a container from 150 to 250 meters. Since June 2024, this has applied to Nieuwendijk.
“The result is positive: the street is now much cleaner than before. In parts of the old city center where containers aren’t possible, we will create drop-off points on the water and/or offer scheduled pickup services, such as the pilot program in the ‘9 Streets’ area.”
The spokesperson said they are also collaborating with residents who have good ideas for reducing litter.
