Fost Plus, Belgium's household waste package group, doesn’t agree with Recycling Netwerk’s proposition of putting a deposit on plastic bottles and cans, to get them out of PMC bags. Recycling Netwerk is a Dutch coalition of environmental organisations. “A deposit is not the solution to the waste problem”, Fost said on Sunday. They are responsible for collecting, sorting and recycling household waste.
In 2016, Fost Plus launched pilot projects to collect a larger amount of plastic packaging. The results are currently being analysed before a proposition is put forward to regional authorities. The association hopes to finish setting up this new type of collection system between now and 2018.
Recycling Netwerk doesn’t like this. “More plastic in blue bags seems like a step in the right direction. But recycling only becomes a good thing if, at the same time, we stop putting bottles made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and cans in PMC bags and up to 98% are recycled via a deposit”, the coalition of environmental organisations stated.
They used the example of Germany, were customers can claim back a deposit of 0.25 euros if they take bottles back to a store. 98% of bottles are recycled there. The figure in Wallonia is just 62%, Recycling Netwerk pointed out. The association thinks a lot of cans and bottles end up in the household waste bag or public bins because they’ve lost their value. They are then burned in incinerators. Others end up on the ground or in the sea.
Fost Plus doesn’t agree with the proposition, claiming a deposit is not the answer to the waste problem. The association says collecting more plastic in blue PMC bags will increase the recycling tax on plastics. It thinks two different systems would cause confusion and a lot of people would prefer the current method, which is “comfortable, simple and easy”.
The Brussels Times
