Brussels collects 137% more food waste since adopting orange bag system

After an expectedly bumpy start to food waste collection in Brussels via new orange containers, an estimated 137% more waste is being collected since the same period last year, new figures reveal.

It has been six weeks since the new waste collection officially began and 1,097 tonnes of food waste was collected between 15 May and 15 June, Bruzz reports.

Additionally, the number of bags that were put out incorrectly fell drastically as people get used to the new system.

Using the orange bags for food waste has been mandatory in most of Brussels since 15 May.

Bruxelles Propreté is calling the new programme a success, saying the quantity of sorted food waste has steadily increased since the start of the reform - from 157 tonnes in the first week to 345 tonnes in the fourth week of its implementation.

Apartment buildings with large containers also showed encouraging figures, with 227 tonnes of food waste collected since 15 May.

Besides food waste, plastic sorting also increased significantly. Thanks to the mandatory sorting of different types of plastic packaging in the blue bag, the volume collected increased by 14% from 1,440 to 1,640 tonnes.

The increase in food waste has led to a decrease in the amount of waste entering the white bag and then incinerators. The exact decrease in residual waste will be calculated in the coming weeks.

The growing importance of recycling food waste has also led to a huge increase in demand for orange containers. Bruxelles Propreté has delivered more than 32,000 containers to municipalities and Recyparks since May, and another 70,000 orange bins will be delivered in the coming days.

By the end of the year, a total of 300,000 bins will have been distributed to Brussels residents.

In the first days of the waste reform, bags were often taken out at the wrong time – as many as 80% in the first hours of the reform, despite many awareness campaigns.

Bruxelles Propreté decided not to collect incorrectly placed bags systematically, but rather wait until the next collection round so that people would become aware of the changes in the collection schedule. That approach led to a drop in the error rate to 20% in the second week of the reform.

Since the start of the reform, Bruxelles Propreté has put more than 60,000 “error” stickers on bags that were put out at the wrong time, but only 8,000 in the last week. The agency said the results were “encouraging”.