Member(s) of Government responsible for this response
Alain Maron
Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Climate change, Environment, Energy and Participatory democracy
Response
We support parts of this proposal
and we can implement them.
Explanation
The proposal for a regional strategy for urban cleanliness, “clean.brussels” (http://www.clean.brussels) envisages through measure 33 the analysis of household waste collection via optional underground waste drop-off points in the Brussels Capital Region.
In this context, Bruxelles Propreté recently published a public contract to conduct a study on the results of household waste collection via optional drop-off, and more specifically via sorting points in urban contexts similar to the Brussels Region. This will make it possible to examine how to optimise the operation of sorting points (as Bruxelles Proprété’s underground containers are called) and to assess a possible wider deployment in other types of neighbourhoods or environments in the Brussels territory.
As for the results of the sorting points currently installed, studies by Fost Plus on the underground systems used by the various intermunicipalities show that sorting quality is lower than for door-to-door bag collection. Litter is also often found around underground containers.
However, there are no plans to remove existing sorting points. The Brussels-Capital Region will continue to install underground sorting points as part of new buildings or large-scale renovation projects which meet its specifications. The Brussels-Capital Region has agreed in principle to some 30 applications for the installation of such sorting points.
However, a generalised use of sorting points is out of the question. Besides the problems of sorting and cleanliness, it is not always operationally possible to place containers underground in Brussels, given the number of utility lines present underground in Brussels. Moreover, almost 10,000 parking spaces would have to disappear if this method of collection became the norm in the Brussels Region.