Well, to get to 36L from the central area, we taxi past 36C, 24 and 09. To get from 18R, we taxi past 18C, 06 and 27. At the moment, most days, AMS is far from running at capacity, so a no-delay departure or approach would have been available at one of those runways. Hence the unnecessary carbon-dioxide burn.
But what do I care? It's not my habitat!
Incidentally, did the people living near 36L actually realise that they lived near an airport before they saw aircraft taxying past their windows?