Summary
If you want to learn more about recycling and recycled products in Belgium, visit the Fost Plus website www.fostplus.be/fr. This organisation is responsible for the collection and sorting of household packaging waste and ensures that it is recycled to the maximum extent possible.
Waste needs to be sorted at source in order to be recycled.
Some waste is collected at home, but you can also deposit it at collection points or container parks.
Only the municipal authorities are competent to manage the household waste of citizens, in compliance with the minimum rules, which are harmonised and laid down by the Region. Many municipalities have entrusted the operational management of waste (total or partial) to their inter‑municipal authorities.
To find out more about the situation in your municipality, consult the website of your municipality and/or your inter‑municipal authority: moinsdedechets.wallonie.be/fr/je-m-informe/dans-ma-commune
The application of taxes/fees on household waste is aimed, in particular, at preventing the generation of this waste. In Wallonia, the legislation provides for the application of the ‘polluter pays' principle via the true cost, i.e. the direct passing on of the costs of household waste management to the beneficiaries.
The establishment of a single pricing structure ensures that the level of quality of the services available throughout Wallonia is uniform. However, the establishment of the cost of these services varies greatly from one municipality to another.
In order to ensure the transparency of waste management and the application of the ‘cost of truth' principle, the municipalities are required to provide users annually with information, in particular concerning :
- waste streams: quantity, collection and processing service, etc.
- budgetary management: allocation of costs, contributors, composition of the tax/fee, etc.
Costs
The majority of municipalities respect the ‘cost of truth'.
Under the Decree of 27 June 1996, the Walloon municipalities are obliged to pass on all the costs of household waste management to the beneficiaries via the establishment of municipal tax regulations – the ‘cost of truth' principle.
The ‘cost of truth' coverage rate is calculated annually, on the basis of the municipality's budget, by dividing the total forecast revenue from household waste management by the total expenditure involved. The resulting rate must be between 95% and 110%. In 2018, eight Walloon municipalities (out of 262) did not comply with the ‘cost of truth' coverage rate based on their provisional budget: it was less than 95% for seven of them and over 110% for the eighth.
A pricing structure, 262 different tax regulations
The pricing of household waste management includes a flat‑rate part to finance the minimum service (collection and treatment of a certain quantity of waste, access to recyparcs, etc.) and a variable part. This is proportional to :
- the volume of waste collected for municipalities using ‘pay bags' / sticker bags (53% of Walloon municipalities and 67% of the Walloon population in 2018);
- the weight of the waste collected and/or additional collections for municipalities using duo‑bacs/containers (47% of Walloon municipalities and 33% of the Walloon population in 2018).