What do we see?
The amount of residual household waste in Flanders has continued to decrease since 2013, with the exception of the COVID year 2020. This trend can mainly be explained by the decrease in bulky household waste and general household waste as a result of a various policy initiatives in recent years, such as the expansion of the pmd bag, the further implementation of weight-based differentiated tariffs and measures to reduce the amount of bulky waste (e.g. introduction of the take-back obligation for discarded mattresses).
While in 2013 there was still 158.58 kg of residual household waste per inhabitant in Flanders, in 2022 this dropped to 128.19 kg per inhabitant. This indicates a significant decrease of 30 kg in the period 2013-2022.
What’s the aim?
The evolution of the total amount of household residual waste in Flanders is an indicator for the amount of household waste that is incinerated or landfilled, and thus leaves the materials cycle . This indicator is important because the quantity of residual waste – combined with the sorting analysis – shows that it is useful to further stimulate sorting and selective collection.
One of the targets in the Household Waste and Comparable Industrial Waste Implementation Plan 2016-2022 is a further reduction to 138 kg of household residual waste per inhabitant in Flanders by 2022. At 128 kg per inhabitant, this target was more than achieved. The Local Materials Plan 2023-2030 and the Flemish Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 state that household residual waste in Flanders, including comparable industrial waste, should further decrease to 100 kg per inhabitant by 2030.
What does this indicator measure?
The indicator is a sum of all household waste that is collected non-selectively. This includes household waste, bulky waste, waste collected by road sweepers, street litter and fly-tipping. Until 2020, the OVAM collected quantitative and qualitative information on the collection of household waste and comparable industrial waste in Flanders annually via the Online Waste Survey. Since 2021, MATIS, a waste and materials information system, replaces the numerical part of the Online Waste Survey. Municipalities, intermunicipal waste associations, management bodies and private collectors participate.
