{"id":15937,"date":"2026-01-04T02:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beach-clean.org\/the-granulite-affair-how-rijkswaterstaat-bent-the-rules-for-waste-dumping\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T02:03:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:03:32","slug":"the-granulite-affair-how-rijkswaterstaat-bent-the-rules-for-waste-dumping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beach-clean.org\/en\/the-granulite-affair-how-rijkswaterstaat-bent-the-rules-for-waste-dumping\/","title":{"rendered":"The Granulite Affair: How Rijkswaterstaat Bent the Rules for Waste Dumping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Welke rol speelde Rijkswaterstaat bij de afvalstort in een grote natuurplas? (1\/2) | Zembla (2020)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hcH8RMIwrqo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>It reads like a political thriller: a large natural lake, tons of controversial waste, senior officials relaxing the rules, and a years-long legal battle against journalism. The Zembla investigative report on the dumping of granulite in natural lake &#8216;Over de Maas&#8217; exposes a painful file on the relationship between the business community and the government. <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What exactly is granulite?<\/h3>\n\n<p>The core of the conflict revolves around <strong>granulite<\/strong>, a residual product from the crushed stone industry. According to producer Bontrup (via subsidiary GIB), it is a useful raw material. However, environmental experts and former environmental prosecutor Gustaaf Biezeveld stated in the broadcast that, according to the law, it is not &#8216;soil&#8217; at all, but waste.  <\/p>\n\n<p>The difference is crucial: much stricter rules apply to waste than to soil. By designating it as soil, the material could be dumped cheaply and on a large scale in the Gelderland nature. <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The role of Rijkswaterstaat and Halbe Zijlstra<\/h3>\n\n<p>Zembla reconstructs in the video how senior officials from Rijkswaterstaat played a remarkable role. Despite warnings from their own advisors about the harmful consequences for people and the environment, the way seemed to be cleared for the waste dumping. <\/p>\n\n<p>The name of former minister <strong>Halbe Zijlstra<\/strong>, who became a lobbyist for the company involved after his political career, is also mentioned. The broadcast investigates what influence these political connections have had on the decision-making surrounding the natural lake. <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A years-long legal battle<\/h3>\n\n<p>After the original broadcast in 2020, the company did not let it rest. There followed a legal battle of almost six years against Zembla and the interviewed experts. <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In 2022, the court ruled that Zembla had to rectify.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2024, this was overturned on appeal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In October 2025, the <strong>Supreme Court<\/strong> definitively ruled that Zembla&#8217;s publications were lawful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It reads like a political thriller: a large natural [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Granulite Affair: How Rijkswaterstaat Bent the Rules for Waste Dumping - 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