ACR+

Both Flanders and Belgium have had the highest recycling rate in Europe for several years. And yet, local authorities have been struggling with the current collection of packaging waste for several years. There is still too much packaging in litter on the streets and despite all the communication efforts, consumers, after twenty years, still have difficulties sorting their packaging waste correctly.

The local authorities want to take the lead in the quest for ways to improve the current collection system for packaging waste in Flanders. That is why eleven Flemish inter-municipal waste organizations and the City of Antwerp decided to join forces in the Recover partnership. They funded research to devise solutions for the problems arising from the current policy. Recover commissioned eight studies, analysed the current waste collection system and formulated ten recommendations for better policy:

1. More ambition and higher objectives
2. More separate collection of packaging
3. More emphasis on high-quality recycling
4. Increased research on the impact of packaging
5. Invest more in eco-design
6. Full responsibility of producers
7. Better mapping of the materials flow
8. Invest more in prevention
9. Increase user-friendliness
10. Policy should be in the hands of policymakers

You can find out more about the current policy, its strengths and weaknesses and Recover’s policy recommendations in this report, which is titled ‘Towards a better policy for packaging waste in Flanders’.