The City of Brussels issued 36.7% of fines last year for illegal dumping against individuals or businesses based outside the region.
This issue, referred to as "waste tourism", accounts for a significant portion of sanctions related to public cleanliness, Anas Ben Abdelmoumen (PS), councillor for public cleanliness, said on Tuesday.
The total number of fines is increasing. In 2023, city authorities issued 7,731 fines, which amounted to approximately €1.16 million, representing a 61% rise compared to 2022.
Ben Abdelmoumen claims that much of the waste arriving from outside Brussels originates from neighbouring Flemish municipalities, such as Grimbergen, Vilvoorde, Machelen, Zaventem, and Sint-Pieters-Leeuw.
These towns often have major access roads leading to Brussels, making it easy for offenders to dispose of waste under the assumption that they won’t be noticed, the councillor explained.
One contributing factor, he noted, is the price disparity in rubbish bags. For instance, a roll of bags costs €22.50 in Vilvoorde, nearly ten times the price in Brussels.
The councillor stated that some commuters, who already travel to Brussels for work, buy cheaper rubbish bags in the city, fill them, and discard them along their route to Brussels.
To combat this problem, several measures have been implemented.
The city has allocated €450,000 to expand its surveillance camera network, increased the enforcement team by two officers, and installed concrete blocks on strategic routes, such as Avenue de Vilvoorde, to restrict access to illegal dumping hotspots.
