Fost Plus concludes successful accreditation period

December 21, 2023 Fost Plus looks back on the past accreditation period with satisfaction. Between 2019 and 2023, more packaging waste per inhabitant was selectively collected, the recycling rate for plastic packaging material increased further and Fost Plus optimised cooperation with members and partners for better packaging management throughout the chain. Fost Plus is on track to achieve all the targets from the current accreditation. This strong basis is the foundation for the ambitions formulated by the organisation in the new accreditation application.

As a collective organisation, Fost Plus fulfils the Extended Producer Responsibility of its members: companies introducing packaged products on the market. Although packaging management is a regional competence in Belgium, Fost Plus ensures a uniform approach for household packaging. The organisation is accredited for this purpose for a period of five years. This allows it to continuously set and follow up on ambitious targets. Over the past five years, the focus has been on developing a local circular economy. With the expanded PMD collection (the New Blue Bag), new sorting and recycling centres and a target group-specific approach for more out-of-home collection, the organisation succeeded.

^{​Since 2020, the recycling rate is calculated through a specific methodology imposed by Europe with a view to consolidation at European level. The recycling rate is now measured later in the chain, so that process losses or the presence of improper materials (such as contaminants, humidity or product residues) are deducted from the recycling rate. This has a relatively limited ​ impact on the Belgian results, given the high purity of the bales leaving the sorting centres. In this table, the 2019 recycling figures were recalculated according to the same parameters, to allow a relevant comparison. As such, the 2019 figures are not official but a mere estimation to show the evolution over the years. Figures for 2023 will be available from June 2024, after consolidation with member declarations. An estimated 90% of all Belgian packaging companies are members of Fost Plus.}

With this strong base, the operational role (collection, sorting and recycling) of Fost Plus can evolve into a broad social role, taking a holistic approach to raw materials and materials management with a view to a sustainable society.

1. Expanded PMD collection

Objective: 65% plastic recycling

Since 2019, more types of packaging can be thrown in the blue bag. This way its essential role in the packaging recycling chain is expanded. Besides plastic bottles and vials, almost all plastic packaging is allowed in it since then. An extra 8 kg per inhabitant is collected every year, or some 90,000 tonnes of (mainly) plastic packaging material that was previously incinerated via residual waste. This could increase the plastic recycling rate from 42% (estimated, cf. supra) in 2019 to the legal target of 65% in 2023. We reached 61% in 2022 and are well on the way to achieving this target. To sort these additional (plastic) materials, 5 new high-tech sorting centres were built. Meanwhile, contracts were also awarded to bring the recycling of those materials to Belgium. This adds up to a total investment of €1 billion in the local circular economy between 2019 and 2024, when the new plants will all be operational.

^{​5 high-tech sorting centres sort the contents of the PMD bag into 16 material types via the same specifications.}

^{​Thanks to the new recycling contracts, 81% of all household packaging and 18.5% of plastic packaging materials were recycled on Belgian territory in 2022. This figure will rise further, especially for plastics, as the new plants all become operational.}

2. Sorting wherever packaging is disposed of

Objective: Collect 26,000 tonnes of PMD out of home

Citizens are increasingly consuming outside their home and on the go. In its policy, Fost Plus recently focused on workplace packaging management, on the one hand, and specific target sites on the other.

This has been successful: the objective was to increase the proportion of PMD collected out of home from 14,000 tonnes in 2018 to 26,000 tonnes in 2023. By the end of 2022, the counter was already at 24,000 tonnes. Thanks to the continued efforts, the end goal is well within reach.

3. Better recyclable packaging

Objective: 100% recyclable packaging

Packaging is sustainable only when it is conceived that way right from the design phase. Packaging companies are committed to eliminate all non-recyclable packaging from their ranges by 2025. Between 2019 and 2022, some 2,500 tonnes of non-recyclable packaging disappeared from shop shelves. In addition, there are a lot of packaging shifts in the pipeline that will become visible over the coming months and years.

Fost Plus is working, on the one hand, with the industry on operational solutions to integrate certain packaging types into existing systems. In 2023, both opaque PET bottles and small aluminiums (including beverage capsules) were integrated into the stream. Due to adjustments in the sorting centres, they are now both sorted as a separate material type. Contracts were also signed with specialised partners for the recycling of this packaging. This totals some 3,000 tonnes a year.

On the other hand, Fost Plus offers advice and support to structurally modify packaging that cannot be recycled or is difficult to recycle, to make it more recyclable. For instance, this year the iconic Pringles tube changed, Lidl removed black meat trays from its range and JDE Peet's opted for a mono-material – and thus recyclable – outer packaging for its Senseo pads.

These encouraging results do not diminish the challenges we face as a society. In future, companies will play an even more decisive role in making the value chain more sustainable. The impact of their packaging on the environment should be reduced. To do so, companies need to make their packaging systems more sustainable and commit to reusable packaging or packaging-free business models. Recycling alone is no longer enough. However, this shift should not be an end in itself. Fost Plus stands for an integral approach to the product with its packaging to arrive at the most sustainable solution. For example, food wastage due to poorly adapted packaging has a larger ecological footprint than a single-use packaging that is recycled.

The new accreditation application translates these ambitions into actions.