A mixed bag: your waste collection questions answered

It’s no exaggeration to say that the new rubbish collection system implemented by Bruxelles Propreté has been met with mixed reviews. And that’s for those who have bothered to read the leaflets announcing in great detail the new roster, in which blue bags and yellow bags are collected on alternate weeks. Whether they embrace or deride the new system, many Bulletin readers have taken to our Q&A pages with their queries. We submitted a few to Étienne Cornesse, spokesman for Bruxelles Propreté.

The recent Bruxelles Propreté leaflets remind us to take our rubbish out between 18.00 and 18.30. In our household, nobody comes home before 20.30, i.e. after the collection. What are we to do if we don’t have any domestic help or don’t want to ask the neighbours to do it for us?

Etienne Cornesse: People whose bags are collected in the evening are required to take their bags out between 18.00 and 18.30, to leave the pavements litter-free during the day. If you are unable to do so, the only solution is, indeed, to ask a neighbour, friend or relative to do it for you.

What is the situation with cardboard boxes? Can we put them out as they are, or do we have to cut them into small pieces then put them into yellow bags? 

EC: Cardboard boxes must be folded then tied with a piece of string, to avoid taking up too much pavement space. They do not need to be cut into small chunks that fit into yellow bags.

Many people obviously still do not understand the new system. My street is strewn with blue and yellow bags left outside on the wrong week, as well as plain rubbish. How can the people who do this get away with it?

EC: After a period of transition and tolerance, which is meant to allow everyone to adapt to the new collection roster, people will incur fines for littering observed by the relevant personnel from the commune or from Brussels Region. The end of March is probably when that period of transition will end.

Was the new collection schedule implemented for budgetary reasons?

EC: The blue/yellow bag alternation answers the technical demands of the new sorting lines at Recyclis, the Brussels Region sorting centre. The new lines allow for a better sorting of plastic and paper waste and therefore support the efforts of the population. This new collection system has allowed a saving of €4 million on operating – chiefly labour – costs. 

Isn’t rubbish collection implemented more intensively in some communes than in others?

EC: Rubbish collection is identical in all nineteen communes.

What can I do if I notice ‘wild littering’ in my neighbourhood (mattresses, television sets etc)?

EC: Contact your commune or, alternatively, Bruxelles Propreté on 0800.981.81.