Find all the answers to your questions here

The requirements are:

• Provide proof of your waste management (see question 3);
• Use the bags or containers identified by your registered collector;
• sort:
  • PMD;
  • Paper and Cardboard ;
  • White transparent packaging glass and coloured transparent packaging glass;
  • Residual waste ;
  • Waste that must legally be recovered:
    • Used frying fats and oils
    • Batteries
    • Electrical and electronic equipment waste
    • Medications
    • Tyres
    • Used oils
    • End-of-life vehicles
    • Photovoltaic panels
  • plant waste;
  • Waste from animal by-products ;
  • Hazardous waste

For 2 reasons:

• The more waste sorted at the source, the more efficient recycling channels will be. Especially since recycling waste saves both raw materials and energy;
• Waste management financing for professionals must be separated from that of households. This is the polluter pays principle.

The producer of non-hazardous waste other than domestic waste should provide proof of waste management using one of the following ways:

• the existence of a contract with a registered waste collector (see question 13), or
• collection certificates issued by a registered waste collector, or
• treatment certificates issued by an authorized waste treatment facility.

This obligation applies to every producer who generates or dumps waste other than domestic waste. For example, a company, a retailer, a self-employed person, an association, an office or a building manager.

This obligation started on February 2, 2013.

Since 1991, any producer of hazardous waste has to separate this waste from other waste and dispose of it in accordance with the legislation concerning hazardous waste.
Since 1993, any producer of animal waste is required to dispose of it separately.
Since February 2, 2013, everyone is required to separate paper and cardboard from other residual waste.
As of February 2, 2014, the following fractions must also be submitted separately from residual waste:

• PMD;
• Paper and Cardboard ;
• White transparent packaging glass and coloured transparent packaging glass;
• Residual waste ;
• Waste that must legally be recovered:
  • Used frying fats and oils
  • Batteries
  • Electrical and electronic equipment waste
  • Medications
  • Tyres
  • Used oils
  • End-of-life vehicles
  • Photovoltaic panels
• plant waste;
• Waste from animal by-products ;
• Hazardous waste

There are no standardised templates for evidentiary documents (see question 3). However, the evidentiary documents must at least contain the following data:

• name, address, business number and establishment unit of the waste producer;
• name, address, business number and establishment unit of the collector or the place of deposit (treatment facility or container yard);
• type of waste;
• volume or weight of waste collected or brought in;
• collection frequency or drop-off date.

Non-hazardous waste: https://environnement.brussels/thematiques/dechets-ressources/gestion-des-dechets/liste-des-professionnels-agrees-et-enregistres?view_pro=1

Hazardous waste: https://environnement.brussels/thematiques/dechets-ressources/gestion-des-dechets/liste-des-professionnels-agrees-et-enregistres?view_pro=1

No, but you should check the following points in your contract:

• Does all the data appear as defined in  question 7?
• Is the collector registered for non-hazardous waste collection?
• Does my contract include all the types of waste listed in the sorting requirement (at least residual waste, paper/cardboard and PMC)?

If your supplier takes back used packaging from delivered products, they must be registered as a waste collector (see question 8).

Your collector can give you a solution adapted to your needs.
Each container used must be clearly identifiable by colour, logo, inscription or other relevant markings indicating that it belongs to your registered collector.

No, there is no threshold amount in which mandatory waste fractions do not need to be sorted.

Yes, you can use several solutions (collectors or container park or treatment facility) for your different waste fractions.

In this case, you will have to prove that your different waste fractions have been collected or treated correctly (see question 3).

Yes, you can bring your waste, either directly or via a registered waste carrier, to a container park or authorized waste treatment facility.

In this case, you will have to prove that your waste has been treated properly (see question 3).

A report may be drawn up by a municipal inspector, a Brussels Environment inspector or the police. An administrative fine of 50 to 62.500 EUR may be issued.

You must keep your documents for 5 years.

Order of 14/06/2012 relating to waste, modified by the Order of 18/12/2015 relating to the first part of the tax reform.

Decree of 01/12/2016 of the Brussels-Capital Region Government on waste management.

It is not necessary to wash or rinse packaging. However, they must be completely empty. Once you have fully used up a product, you can then sort your packaging without having to clean it.

Yes, they should be left on. Plastic caps are recycled with bottles and containers.

Packaging that has contained toxic substances (e.g. paints, pesticides, insecticides) can be dangerous to humans. Consequently, they must be treated in a special way. These types of containers are part of household hazardous waste (HHW).

The Point Vert (Green Dot) logo is not a sorting instruction and therefore does not indicate that the container can be discarded in the PMC bag. The logo only means that the company that markets the product contributes to the financing of the selective collection and recycling system. It also does not mean that the packaging on which it is printed can be recycled or is made of recycled material.

If you want to know if your packaging qualifies as a PMC, it is best to consult the sorting rules for PMCs. For plastic packaging, please note that plastic bottles and containers belong to PMC.

The numbers in the triangle refer to the type of plastic the product is made of. However, the number does not indicate whether or not the package is considered to be PMC. Packages with the same number and thus consisting of the same type of plastic are not always treated or recycled in the same way. There are different plastic thicknesses and qualities that cannot always be recycled together. Often these packages (trays, cups, yoghurt cups, butter trays) are also only available in small quantities on the market, making the material unsuitable for recycling. If you want to know if your packaging qualifies as a PMC, it is best to consult the sorting rules for PMCs. For plastic packaging, please note that plastic bottles and containers belong to PMC.

Collectors have the specific task of visually checking the deposited PMC bags. If they contain non-compliant waste, they do not collect it. Instead, the collectors place a red rejection sticker on the bag. You must then remove the items that have not been sorted properly from the bag and put your bag back outside at the next collection. There is a similar procedure for paper-cardboard. Failure to retrieve a refused bag is punishable by a fine for improper deposit.

Other types of glass have a different chemical composition from glass in bottles, jars and containers and cannot be mixed with them. These include high-temperature resistant glass (oven-safe glass), opaline, crystal, windows and mirrors. These types of glass require a higher temperature to melt.

The melting temperature of materials such as porcelain and earthenware, stoneware bottles and jugs, heat-resistant dishes, etc. is higher than that of glass. As a result, unmelted fragments may end up in recycled bottles and greatly reduce their strength.

These light bulbs and tubes contain chemicals that can be dangerous during treatment. They are part of household hazardous waste (HHW).

Bottle or jar lids and caps are made from a wide variety of materials (plastic, metal, cork, etc.). These disrupt the recycling process of pure glass. In contrast, labels automatically disappear during the processing procedure and therefore do not pose any problems.

The better the sorting quality, the more efficient the recycling will be and the higher the quality of the recycled materials will be. The same is true for glass. For this reason, it is essential to separate tinted glass from colourless glass. Only colourless glass can be recycled into new colourless glass. Terracotta, earthenware, ceramics and porcelain are prohibited, as is heat-resistant glass, which is used in oven and microwave oven dishes and glass ceramic plates. The melting temperature of these materials is higher than that of ordinary glass. Unmelted fragments may end up in bottles made from recycled material and make them unusable.

These kinds of paper contain substances (e.g. cellophane, glue, etc.) that have a negative effect on paper recycling.

This plastic material disrupts the paper and cardboard sorting and recycling process.

Mandatory collection of PMCs applies to all businesses, regardless of the amount of waste. In Wallonia a minimum threshold of 60 litres of PMCs per week is currently enforced.

If you have a contract with a waste collector, the cost depends on the services and rate conditions described in your contract. If you use municipal collection, the collection cost is included in the PMC bag purchase price. The cost is a maximum of 0.25 euro per bag.

This is possible, if you can arrange this with your waste collector.

Follow the same rules that apply to the collection of other waste fractions. Discuss the approach with other companies in your building and with the waste collector.

Your company is responsible for the quality of PMC sorting. If you submit PMCs that do not meet the sorting rules, they may be rejected by the collector. Regardless of whether you have a contract with a waste collector or whether your PMCs are collected via municipal collection.

The waste material is separated into different fractions (PET, HDPE, steel, aluminium and beverage cartons) in a sorting centre. These fractions are then recycled by the processors. Further info at www.fostplus.be.

Established in 1989, Brussels Environment is the administration for the environment and energy in the Brussels Capital Region. Its areas of activity cover the environment in the wider sense, including:

• air quality;
• energy;
• soil;
• sound disturbance;
• electromagnetic waves;
• waste management planning;
• sustainable production, construction and consumption;
• nature and biodiversity;
• animal wellbeing;
• management of the Sonian Forest, green spaces and natural areas;
• management of non-navigable waterways;
• the fight against climate change.

Having this wide range of businesses under one roof is a real asset that allows us to approach our various activity areas in a cross-functional and non-segmented manner.

Fost Plus promotes, coordinates and finances the selective collection, sorting and recycling of domestic packaging waste in Belgium. Find more information here www.fostplus.be