Sorting of waste compulsory from 1 January 2010

This page has been automatically translated from French into English by a translation software. Automatic translations are not as accurate as translations made by professional human translators. Nevertheless these pages can help you understand information published by the City of Brussels.

   

The sorting of waste will thus be compulsory in Brussels, from 1 January 2010. All the inhabitants of the Brussels Region, including those of the City of Brussels, will have to sort their waste. A measure to improve the recycling and which aims at reducing the quantity of waste that has to be incinerated.

What bags for which waste?

Henceforth, the Brusselses have to get acquainted with 3 sorts of bags intended for the selective collections: yellow, blue and white.

Yellow bags

Paper and cardboard (clean and dry):

• newspapers
• magazines
• promotional folders
• books
• exercise books
• envelopes
• boxes and cardboard packagings
• phone books

The yellow bags are available in most of the supermarkets and in grocer's shops (1,71 euro for 18 bags). The inhabitants can also tie up their packages or purchase yellow containers intended for the collection of paper and cardboard.

Blue bags

Waste of PMC/PMD-type (plastic bottles, metallic packagings and drink cartons) like:

• beverage cans
• aluminum food punnets
• cans
• lids in metal
• aerosol sprays for food
• plastic bottles and flasks
• drink cartons

The blue bags are available in most of the supermarkets and in grocer's shops (1,71 euro for 18 bags). Possibility of purchasing blue containers intended for PMC/PMD.

White bags

The rest of the household waste which cannot be recycled.

The white bags are available in most of the supermarkets and in grocer's shops. The price depends:

• 1 euro 30 liters (12 bags)
• 2 euro 30 liters (24 bags)
• 2,50 euro 60 liters (17 bags)
• 2,50 euro 80 liters (14 bags)

Attention: the bags (blue, yellow, white and green) may not exceed 15kg/bag.

Other sorts of waste

• Glass: in glass containers, not allowed in white bags anymore since 1 January 2009.
• Garden waste: green bags
• Small domestic chemical waste: 'Green Corners' and container parks
• Worn batteries: collection points in supermarkets, in schools, parks with containers, post offices, municipal halls
• Oil and fat (of frying or engine): 'Green Corners' and container parks
• Bulky waste: collections organized in districts of the City and the Region and in container parks
• Electric and\or electronic devices: reusable (Spullenhulp, La Poudrière, Oxfam Solidariteit of het Leger des Heils/Armée du Salut), not usable anymore: container parks

Fines

Those who will not respect the sorting of garbage will risk a fine going from 62,5 to 625 euro according to the volume of the waste and the history of violations.