The distribution of paper receipts by businesses in Wallonia will no longer be automatic from this Thursday, 10 August, the cabinet of the Walloon Minister of the Environment Céline Tellier confirmed on Wednesday.
This new regulation was officially published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 31 July in a Walloon decree relating to waste, the circularity of materials and public cleanliness, to which the article relating to receipts is attached. This decree was passed in the Walloon parliament on 9 March.
From this Thursday, tickets will no longer have to be printed by default in Walloon shops. Customers will still be able to receive this proof of purchase if they request it. Customers will also now be encouraged to receive receipts by email or text.
Some exceptions are provided for in the new arrangement. The receipt must be distributed, in particular in the service industry, for products with a legal guarantee period or in the event that a service costs more than €25.
Sanitary and environmental reasons
A transitional period is planned to allow businesses to comply with the new regulation. Céline Tellier's office specifies that the end of this period is still under discussion with the sector. Comeos, the Belgian trade federation, is responsible in particular for communicating this new regulation to its members.
About 5 billion receipts are printed each year in Belgium. The office of Wallonia's Environment Minister Tellier justifies the end of the automatic printing of receipts by "sanitary and environmental reasons."
In the United States alone, receipts generate 680,000 tonnes of waste annually. This uses the wood equivalent of 12.4 million trees and 13 billion gallons of water, according to Toxic-Free Future. The impact of printing receipts is 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 each year. The ink on receipts are also harmful to the environment, especially when littered.
Although no measure in this direction has been discussed to date in the Brussels Region, discussions around this regulation are underway within the Flemish Government according to Ovam, the Flemish agency in charge of waste.
