Sorting in Brussels companies: a vision beyond the legal obligation!
Launch of a new campaign by Fost Plus, Brussels Environment and Valipac with ten local ambassadors
Sorting is a legal obligation for companies in the Brussels-Capital Region. The RECYCLE BXL PRO campaign, launched jointly by Fost Plus, Brussels Environment and Valipac, however, aims to increase awareness of the fact that managing waste in companies, shops and hospitality businesses offers significant advantages too.
With a supportive and encouraging slogan, “Bravo! You keep sorting among your priorities”, the RECYCLE BXL PRO campaign is intended to inspire storekeepers and businesses to maintain and intensify their waste sorting efforts.
This campaign increases awareness among professionals in Brussels of the following issues:
- Mandatory sorting of certain waste flows
- The obligation to manage waste properly and keep proof of this, for example by concluding a collection contract with a waste registered collector
- The use of bags or containers provided by the collector (and not the bags intended for households, such as the white Net Brussels bags) so as to allow better waste management in companies.
Embarking on a sorting project involves knowing and following just a few simple steps: identifying the waste in question and the volume involved. This makes it possible to select the appropriate bins and install them sensibly. Good communication on sorting rules is also essential, both internally and for customers.
By investing in waste management, companies, storekeepers and the hospitality sector become part of a virtuous circle that allows sustainable resource management: when sorted, the materials can be recycled to make secondary raw materials that will be used for new products. So it’s a logical, sustainable choice that benefits everyone!
Ten local ambassadors from a wide range of backgrounds in companies, commerce and the hospitality sector who are ready to talk about their involvement in this campaign have been appointed to put across the message.
Kenzo, chef at the restaurant Gramm
‘The advantage of sorting for our restaurant is that we are able to measure our ecological footprint, better understand the way we work and hence reduce the quantity of packaging we have.’
Véronique, cheese maker at La Fruitière (cheese dairy and cheese bar)
‘Even if it weren’t an obligation for my business, I would still sort, anyway, to keep my district and the city clean and tidy and to preserve the environment and resources.’
This campaign aims to provide useful support for professionals to enable them to find all the information they need to manage their waste in Brussels in keeping with nature and in accordance with the law. Versions will appear on posters (in the city, on public transport), social networks and radio. An educational poster with all the useful information about the current and future sorting obligation will also be distributed.
Companies that are ready to take part in this forward-looking project are invited to go to the portal recyclebxlpro.be, which is the central meeting point for all professionals in Brussels.
If you would like to interview one of these ambassadors for a testimonial, please get in touch with Fraçoise Verschaeve.
Françoise Verschaeve
About Brussels Environment
Brussels Environment is the environment and energy administration of the Brussels-Capital Region. As a public service, Brussels Environment’s mission is to study, monitor, manage and provide expertise in the fields of the air, nature, water, ground, waste and noise. The administration also issues environmental permits and monitors compliance with these permits, supports environmental education, information and awareness projects and develops its activities in the field of eco-construction. In addition, Brussels Environment manages the regional Air-Climate-Energy plan. All these missions aim to preserve the environment, support the people of Brussels and improve their quality of life. www.environnement.brussels
About Valipac
Valipac is the Belgian industrial waste knowledge centre founded in 1997 at the initiative of the Belgian industrial sector. Our main role is to provide a collective response to the expanded responsibility of producers for industrial packaging. We gather and analyse reliable data on the sorting and recycling of industrial waste. This knowledge allows us to identify the opportunities and challenges facing the waste chain and, in collaboration with the sector federations and waste collectors, we put in place targeted and ambitious plans and actions to encourage companies to sort more and better. We also work on innovations aiming to transform waste into new raw materials with more applications in Europe. The aim? To achieve a fully circular economy for industrial packaging. www.valipac.be