PETCORE highlights good practices in Belgium: FOST Plus: developing a successful collection and recycling programme

In the past year 2000, a total of more than 282.000 tonnes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was collected for recycling in Europe. This represents an increase of 29% over the results of 1999 when a total of 219.000 tonnes was collected. According to figures published by PET Container Recycling Europe (PETCORE) last year's 29% increase in European collection volume was the highest ever, substantially improving on the previous year's 25% growth.

According to PETCORE Chairman, Henk Hansler, collection growth looks set to continue: "In the coming five years, we expect that European collection will increase by an average of 20% per annum. Mr. Hansler adds: "One European success story is the way Belgium has shown us how cost effective collection and recycling can be combined with impressive growth."

Seven years ago, in 1994, FOST Plus became operational in Belgium, as the country's official selective collection and recycling organisation for municipal packaging waste, or in the words of the web-site: "FOST Plus is a government approved, non-profit-making organisation with the objective to finance, co-ordinate and promote the selective collection, sorting and recycling of household packaging waste.

It was created to allow the industry to respond in a concrete manner to European packaging legislation." FOST Plus also became the manager of Belgium's green dot logo, which is used on packaging to indicate that a contribution has been paid.

Today, FOST Plus has more than 6.000 members and Belgium has become a shining example to other countries when it comes to the collection and recycling of municipal packaging waste. Through a number of intensive separate collection projects, more than 8.5 million Belgian inhabitants are sufficiently encouraged to sort packaging waste - and it's working: in those projects, more than 90% of the population now sorts their metal packaging, cartons, cardboard, glass and plastic bottles. Collected separately, a total amount of more than 90.000 truckloads (or 551.512 tonnes) of empty household packaging was recycled last year. A figure that is set to go up - as by the end of this year FOST Plus expects to have extensive projects in all of Belgium (10.2 Mio inhabitants).

Quantities have increased dramatically

Focusing on developments in PET, we talked with General Manager Sim van Caenegem and Technical Director Joseph Michaux. They both agree that the collection of PET bottles is enormously successful in Belgium: "The quality is very good and quantities have increased dramatically over the past few years, for example in bottles we have gone from 1.000 tonnes in 1995 to 28.000 tonnes in 2000. If the current trend continues, we expect to be collecting nearly 36.000 tonnes in 2002."

The Belgian government currently seems to favour the introduction of a so-called "Ecotax" - designed to discourage the use of PET bottles and other one-way packaging - as an alternative to the Dutch government's plans to expand the existing deposit system for large PET bottles to include the small bottles.

Sim van Caenegem: "Our attitude is neutral in this. We are not in favour of or against refillable bottles. Producers and consumers should have the choice: if they choose for a one-way bottle, it is our duty to make sure that the legal obligations are met at the lowest cost.

Having worked hard to get consumers used to separating their empty bottles and having found viable outlets for the R-PET, however, discouraging the use of PET bottles may be seen as more than a little counter-productive.

"When we started in 1994, supported by a study commissioned from Coopers & Lybrand, our challenge was to reach a total collection level of 55% across the board. We looked at the way Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and France approached the problem, learnt from their mistakes and took the best approaches to collection, administration, etc.

More than 90% of all Belgians sort their empty bottles

"Our philosophy at that time was that if we could encourage 80% of all families to return 8

Reader enquiries

PETCORE
Av de Cortenbergh 66
1040 Brussels
Belgium

+32 2 732 91 27

pverardi@​yucom.be

www.petcore.com