Nearly Six Times More Plastic Packaging Is Now Recycled in Belgium Than Four Years Ago

What we throw away in PMD is given a second life as new packaging or other products – and this is happening more and more right here, across the country: Belgium recycles nearly six times more plastic packaging than it did four years ago. This is shown by Fost Plus’s latest annual figures. ‘This is not to be taken for granted, because while the growth of recycled plastic on the European market has almost completely stalled in recent years, Belgium has continued to invest in local recycling capacity’, explains Francis Huysman, Managing Director of Fost Plus. And it’s paying off, because last year almost three-quarters of all plastic packaging waste placed on the Belgian market by Fost Plus members was recycled, half of it at Belgian recycling centres. The starting point for this success remains the consumer’s home: last year, every Belgian sorted an average of 26 kilos of PMD, the crucial first step towards reusing raw materials.

Last year, no less than 74 per cent of all plastic household packaging placed on the Belgian market by our members was recycled – a figure that has been among the highest in Europe for years. And this recycling is increasingly taking place close to home through local processing chains. Whereas in 2021 only 12 per cent of recycled plastic was actually processed in Belgium, the figure today stands at over half (51 per cent). Over a four-year period, domestic processing of plastic has risen from 13,463 tonnes to 74,236 tonnes. This can be seen from the latest annual results of Fost Plus, the organisation responsible for managing the recycling and reuse of packaging waste in Belgium.

'More than half of plastic packaging recycling now takes place domestically, which also makes the process more sustainable. You might think that this goes without saying, but that’s not the case at all, because the European market for recycled plastic is really struggling. What’s more, in recent years the growth in European production of recycled plastic has almost come to a complete standstill. Meanwhile, our contractual partners in Belgium have opened three new factories over the past two years. Most of the waste that isn’t recycled in Belgium is sent to specialist centres in neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, Germany and France.'
​​Francis Huysman, Managing Director of Fost Plus

26 kg of PMD per Belgian and ever-decreasing amounts of glass waste

Whether packaging can be recycled still depends on what gets sorted at home. And this is where the Belgians consistently stand out: last year, an average of 26 kilos of PMD was collected per person, equivalent to around 15 blue bags per person per year. In addition, Belgians sorted around 23.7 kg of paper-cardboard packaging per person and 27.7 kg of glass – slightly down on the previous year in both cases. Proper sorting remains the crucial first step in making recycling possible.

'Belgium has been among the European leaders in recycling for years, and this is largely thanks to its citizens. Millions of Belgians sort their PMD, paper, cardboard and glass every day, in many cases as a matter of habit. We need to maintain and reinforce these good habits, as recycling and reusing packaging saved our country around 954 kilotonnes of CO2 last year. The biggest challenge is to make sorting a habit, always and everywhere. If we don’t collect it, we can’t recycle it. By always sorting our waste correctly, including outside the home, on the go or at work, we waste fewer valuable raw materials.'
​​Francis Huysman, Managing Director of Fost Plus

Belgium is on track to meet the 2030 European recycling targets

Europe’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) sets quite a few new targets for 2030. The aim is not only to generate less packaging waste, but also to reuse packaging, design it to be more sustainable and recycle more of it. And it’s clear that Belgium is already well on track in many areas.

'As far as recycling rates are concerned, our country is already meeting the 2030 targets. Furthermore, almost half of all packaging (43% of the tonnage) is reusable, above all in the drinks sector. There is still room for improvement, particularly when it comes to broad integration across other sectors.'
​​Francis Huysman, Managing Director of Fost Plus

^{About Fost Plus}

^{Since 1994, Fost Plus has been accelerating the transition to sustainable packaging management. Citizens are at the heart of an approach designed to prevent raw materials from ending up as waste. For instance, Fost Plus is setting up efficient structures to sort correctly any time, anywhere, improving packaging design with around 5,000 members with a view to better recycling, and rethinking the way we all handle packaging and other materials.}

^{Fost Plus works closely with citizens, businesses, governments and experts to collect and recycle the household packaging put on the market by its members. In this way, the organisation fulfils its members’ Extended Producer Responsibility. Sixty dedicated colleagues are committed to influencing behaviour so as to minimise the environmental impact of our ways of producing and consuming. By building sustainable material chains, Fost Plus contributes to a better society and a cleaner environment for all.}