Fost Plus has no interest in prevention or reuse
Fost Plus is failing to make progress on reducing packaging and making it more sustainable, according to research by the Fair Resource Foundation. Although the prevention and reuse of packaging must take priority by law, the amount of packaging is actually increasing.
As part of this research, we sent 2 over-packaged products to the reporting point: Liège waffles and bottles of detergent. We only received notification that our complaint was forwarded to the producer. Other than that, there was no follow-up or involvement from Fost Plus. In Fost Plus's communication, only 2 tiny examples of waste prevention can be found: Carrefour replacing fruit and vegetable stickers with laser printing and Coca-Cola removing the handles from the shrink wrap around plastic drink bottles. We need more ambitious projects to keep the waste mountain small.
Fost Plus is making no effort to reduce packaging and make it more sustainable, according to research by the Fair Resource Foundation. Although prevention and reuse of packaging must take priority by law, the volume of packaging is actually increasing. The Regions are not yet intervening. RNB urges politicians to abandon the obsession with recycling and focus on broad sustainability of packaging.
To get back within planetary boundaries, all sectors must become sustainable. The environmental impact of the packaging sector is large, and packaging reduction must therefore be central. The stakes are high: if 50% of all parcels, food packaging, beverage packaging, and packaging for household products in Europe were reusable, this would save 3.7 MT CO2e and 28 million tonnes of material every year. Each Belgian goes through about 170 kilograms of packaging annually.
Adjust Fost Plus
In Belgium, Fost Plus is responsible on behalf of all companies that put household packaging on the market for making their packaging more sustainable. The Interregional Packaging Commission (IVC) supervises Fost Plus on behalf of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. This is laid down in the Interregional Cooperation Agreement on Packaging and in Fost Plus's Accreditation, which expires at the end of 2023. Negotiations for a new accreditation are currently underway. RNB calls for prevention and reuse to be put at the heart of the new accreditation.
Rob Buurman: “The regional packaging policy fits a classic linear economy. Single-use packaging is not tackled; instead, the focus is solely on collection and recycling.”
The five key findings around reuse and prevention from the report:
the volume of packaging and therefore packaging waste is rising per inhabitant;
The law states that the share of reusable packaging versus single-use packaging must not fall, but this is exactly what has happened over the past 20 years.
Companies are obliged to submit prevention plans to the IVC, but these are not made public. It is not clear what they contain, and it is also unclear what the government does with them. It gives the impression of a bureaucratic exercise with no effect or consequence.
There is a reporting point to report examples of over-packaging, but the reporting point is difficult to find and there seems to be no monitoring or follow-up on what is reported.
Supervision of Fost Plus's activities seems minimal or absent, and the government does not intervene when legal requirements are not met.
Rob Buurman: “There is a lack of transparency in policy and enforcement of legal targets. The targets and obligations are already unambitious, yet they are not complied with or they have no measurable effect whatsoever.”
Recommendations
In the study, the Fair Resource Foundation makes a series of recommendations for policy improvements. The organisation calls for more transparency, sharp targets for prevention and reuse. Also, at least 5% of Fost Plus's budget must be used for reusable packaging systems, something that is already standard in France.
The study
The study is part of a broader research project aiming to take the discussion on producer responsibility for packaging to a higher level, and to stimulate better policies for prevention and reuse. More publications will follow in the coming months. The study looks at packaging waste data, the agreements made, and further contact was sought for the study with Fost Plus, the Interregional Packaging Commission, and stakeholders from the waste chain.
Press contact:
Rob Buurman, rob@fairresourcefoundation.org, +31 6 16401040
Chloé Schwizgebel, chloe@fairresourcefoundation.org, +31 6 43288231
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