Flanders tops the list of recyclers in Europe

At 65% Flanders boasts the best score in Europe for household waste recycling, with Belgium as a whole ranking third at 58%. These figures for 2010, released by the European environmental agency, indicate that only 5 of the 32 surveyed countries in Europe so far meet the continent’s target of recycling 50% of household waste by 2020. These include Austria, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. As the report’s figures only stipulate each country’s performance, Austria tops the list at 63%. But an appendix on Belgium that includes regional figures gives Flanderss a slight advance on Austria. As waste in Belgium is a regional matter, the country has three separate waste policies, with Flanders imposing high taxes on waste incineration and Wallonia only recently increasing its capacity for incineration. Even though Flanders performs better when it comes to recycling, Wallonia is catching up. Brussels, with its dense population and lack of container parks, remains a problem. Moreover it only became compulsary for residents to separate their waste in 2010.
Some of the reasons for Belgium’s excellent score are its ban on dumping unsorted waste banning unsorted mixed waste and biodegradable waste and its huge taxes on dumping waste. In addition, the compulsory waste sorting at source has become second nature in a region which has set a maximum target of 150 kilogram residual waste per resident.
Europe currently recycles at an average of 35%, so consequently the dumping or incineration of many useful substances still cause unnecessary damage to the environment. Only six countries are currently on track to meet the 50% norm by 2020. The others will have to shape up soon. Those countries that have shown the biggest increase  are the UK at a 27% increase in nine years and Ireland at 25%. Belgium, which managed to reach the norm in 2001, recorded an increase of 7%.