Warning against scammers during end-of-year door-to-door collections

Brussels waste collection workers have begun their annual door-to-door collection of holiday gifts, although they have noted the impact of tighter budgets on what people are willing to offer.

Many residents like to give their rubbish collectors money or presents during the winter holidays, RTBF reports, but employees are not allowed to receive gifts while working, as it could disrupt the service they provide.

For that reason, Bruxelles Propreté employees go door to door while in their uniforms on their off-hours between 30 November and 14 December, collecting any money or donations in what has become an authorised and well-regulated practice both in the Belgium capital and elsewhere in the country.

“Every inhabitant of Brussels can express his or her gratitude in any way they choose - it could be a packet of biscuits, a coin or a banknote, or a big smile,” said Adel Lassouli, head of communications at Bruxelles Propreté.

The public service is the same for everyone, the agency emphasised, and no service at Bruxelles Propreté takes account of who has and has not donated.

In Brussels, there are different teams in charge of the different bins (white, blue, yellow, green and orange) for waste collection, which means residents could be visited multiple times by workers from different teams.

“It's a big problem,” Lassouli said. “We recommend that agents should only visit the home once, so we ask the teams to communicate with each other as much as possible to avoid untimely visits, but it has to be said that this is not always the case.”

For those concerned about fraud or scammers trying to solicit donations, Bruxelles Propreté notes that their employees will be dressed in their uniforms with fluorescent coats emblazoned with the department’s logo.

“We provide our operatives with small brochures, which clearly identify them as belonging to Bruxelles Propreté,” said Lassouli. “This year, it's a small leaflet on food waste, in colour, on both sides, with the Bruxelles Propreté logo on it.”

Bpost delivery workers and firefighters with the Brussels fire brigade are prohibited from gift solicitation, though residents are free to give gifts of their own volition.

“The Brussels fire brigade wishes to inform the public that, at the end of the year, malicious individuals are posing as fire brigades in order to sell calendars or ask for Christmas gifts door-to-door,” the brigade said.

“We would like to remind you that the Brussels fire brigade never carries out this type of operation.”

The gift collection period is different in most of Wallonia. There it generally runs between 15 November and 15 January, every day except Sunday and until 18.30 at the latest, according to Ingrid Bertrand, head of communications for BEP Environnement, the intermunicipal company that manages bin collections in Namur province.

Workers must be in possession of an individual identification document bearing the BEP Environnement colours and logo, and while there haven’t been any complaints of fraud so far, the agency noted that people should lodge any such complaints, should they arise, with the police.

Waste collection in 27 communes of Walloon Brabant and Braine-le-Comte in Hainaut province is organised by a different company, which has not formally authorised or forbidden the practise of door-to-door gift solicitation.

“The decision whether or not to respond positively remains at the discretion of each citizen,” the waste management company for those communes said.

The practice is not permitted in Luxembourg province and southern Hainaut.

However, Tibi, in the Charleroi region, authorises door-to-door collection from 15 November to 15 December. Agents must wear an official badge and the intercommunal uniform.

In Liège, the Intradel intermunicipal company has entrusted various private companies with the task of collecting waste and those companies can choose whether or not to accept the practice of gift solicitation.

Photo: Herwig Vergult/Belga