Flanders aims to introduce deposits on beverage containers by 2025

Flanders plans to introduce deposits on beverage containers ('plastic bottle tax', ed.) by 2025. Environment minister Zuhal Demir has received a mandate from the Flemish government to start negotiations on the subject with the other Belgian regions, Wallonia and Brussels.

Flanders imposed a clear target on the sector in 2018. By the end of 2023, the amount of litter had to be reduced by 20 per cent compared to 2015. At the start of the legislature, minister Demir decided to tighten this deadline by a year.

According to public waste agency OVAM's most recent data, the sector is failing to meet the target, the organisation concluded in October. Compared to 2015, there has been a drop of barely 11 per cent. Reported incidents of illegal dumping decreased for the first time in 2021 compared to the previous measurement period in 2019, but compared to 2015, the figures are still 27 per cent higher.

Therefore, the introduction of deposits on cans and plastic bottles is now being shifted up a gear. Belgium currently has a 'bottle tax' system only for glassware.

(BRV)

^{#FlandersNewsService | © AFP PHOTO THOMAS SAMSON Thomas SAMSON / AFP}