Clearing up litter in your neighbourhood

Do you regularly pick up litter? Then apply for a ‘Schone Buurtpas’ digitally (opens in new tab). With this pass you can dispose of litter in an underground container free of charge. There are however some rules. Have you previously received an environmental pass to pick up litter? That pass remains valid. There is no need to apply for a new one.

Are you unable or unwilling to apply for the Schone Buurtpas digitally?

Download the form application Schone Buurtpas (opens in new tab) and fill in. Send the form to the City of Leeuwarden. You can also hand it in at the Town Hall.

Rules

• You can apply for the card from the age of 18 or older. Are you under 18? Then ask your parents/guardians to apply for this card.
• The card is personal. This means that only you may use the card.
• With this pass you can throw the litter in an underground container.
• You can use all underground containers for residual waste in the City of Leeuwarden. Do you pick up litter in an area where there are no underground containers nearby? Send an email to schoon@leeuwarden.nl. Be sure to mention your name and address. We will look for a different solution together.
• You are only given a pass if you regularly clean up litter. This must be at least twice a month.
• To ensure that everyone uses the pass only for collecting litter, the local authority can check usage by carrying out spot checks.
• If you do not use the card for more than six months? We will block it.
• We can reclaim the pass once the project is ended.
• We will not share your (personal) data with other organisations or individuals. They are used only for our records of issued Schone Buurt passes.

Have you lost your Schone buurtpas?

Please let us know via schoon@leeuwarden.nl; we will block the card, and you can get a new card from us.

Does the card no longer work?

Please pass this on to schoon@leeuwarden.nl, stating the card number. Do not make holes in your card to hang it on your key ring, for example. The card will then no longer work.

Keep your neighbourhood clean and tidy. You can help by adopting an underground container. That involves keeping the area around the containers in your neighbourhood tidy and keeping an eye on the situation. Together with the local authority. You can do this on your own, with a group of people or with your neighbours. That makes you a ‘container adopter’.

More information can be found on page Adopt an underground container.

Do you want to organize a large litter campaign? Send an email to schoon@leeuwarden.nl and we will see how we can help you.

Every day, volunteers who collect litter make our municipality a little cleaner and a little more beautiful. Once a year, in recognition of these cleaning heroes, we present someone with the Gouden Grijper (golden grabber) award.

Do you know someone who enthusiastically devotes their time to clearing litter? Or perhaps you are such a litter-clearing hero yourself? Nominate yourself or someone else for the Gouden Grijper 2026.

4 groups

We distinguish 4 groups of litter-clearers for the award:

1. the local volunteer;
2. the youth group;
3. the professional;
4. up-and-coming litter-picking talent.

How does it work?

• You can nominate a person or a group until 8 November using the Gouden Grijper nomination (opens in new tab) form.
• Let us know who you are nominating and why this person or group deserves the Gouden Grijper. Remember to enter your own details as well. This will allow us to contact you if your nomination is selected.
• The winners will be selected by a jury.
• We will announce the winners on Thursday 26 November during a festive ceremony.