Under the terms of the 3rd Packaging Agreement the Dutch beverage industry pledged to ensure, by 2005 at the latest, that the quantity of bottles and cans ending up as street litter would be reduced by at least 80% compared with the year 2001. By combining data from various studies that in themselves left this question unresolved, CE has attempted to assess trends in the number of bottles and cans in Dutch litter between 2001 and 2005, to provide a basis for answering the question whether the target has been met. The ultimate conclusion of this CE study is that no reliable pro-nouncement can be made as to whether the number of bottles and cans in Dutch litter has indeed fallen by 80% during the period 2001-2005. The research findings available are at odds with the definitions of the Packaging Agreement, comprise too few data or are subject to too great statistical uncertainty. Although it appears that the 80% reduction target for the period 2001-2005 will not have been met, there are insufficient reliable data available to underpin this conclusion.