Domestic waste sorting on the wane in Brussels

News website brusselnieuws.be reports that only a quarter of household waste in Brussels is being sorted. The use of blue bags – for plastic bottles, Tetra Pak-style packaging and tins – has fallen dramatically, despite the threat of fines for failing to sort domestic waste. When the fine was introduced in 2010 it had an immediate effect. Unsorted waste in the white bags fell significantly and there was a rise in the amount of plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and glass sorted. Today people in Brussels are showing far less enthusiasm for sorting their waste. The number of white bags for general unsorted waste has again increased. Last year, more than 320,000 tons of waste was collected in white bags, compared to 306,000 tons two years earlier. The number of blue bags collected by Bruxelles Propreté, meanwhile, has fallen. Only 11,000 tons of recyclable waste was collected in blue bags last year, against 16,000 tons in 2010. Brussels Environment Council insists that threatening people with fines only has a limited effect and that people soon get used to the fines. The council suggests that people in Brussels should pay a levy on white bags, as is the practice in Flanders and Wallonia. The council believes that if people have to pay for the bags, they will use them more sparingly and will be keener to sort their waste.