‘Return premium’ for cans turns out to be an expensive flop

This is shown by the Be WaPP final report, which the Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports on today. When the Walloon government began considering a deposit-refund system in 2016, Fost Plus, trade federation Comeos and food federation Fevia set up the non-profit organisation Be WaPP. This non-profit organisation organises, among other things, clean-up actions. Be WaPP also set up a pilot project on "reward systems" for cans: in 18 Walloon municipalities, residents received a voucher of 5 euros per 100 cans they handed in to a machine or at the local municipal counter.

The final report on the experiment shows that it cannot be concluded that the pilot project had any effect on the number of cans in litter. In fact, the data suggests that the decrease that occurred later in the project was probably the result of Covid-19 measures. More details in our evaluation at the bottom of this text.

The costs of the reward system are very high. The project had a cost of €791,072.40, equivalent to 28 euro cents per handed-in can (page 64) and only covered the territory of 18 Walloon municipalities. Although only cans from litter were allowed to be handed in, there is no proof that this actually happened. Control over this was non-existent. By comparison, in the Norwegian deposit-refund system Infinitum, producers pay 0.3 euro cents per can to collect them separately, leading to 70-90% fewer cans in litter across Norway. The Be WaPP reward system is therefore anything but cost-effective.

Proposal for a decree on deposit-refund systems

The Walloon government wrote in its 2019 coalition agreement that it will introduce either a reward system or a deposit-refund system: "After evaluation of the current pilot projects, the Government will defend the progressive implementation, at the level of Belgium, of a deposit-refund system or a reward system for cans and PET bottles, which is economically viable and effective and allows for environmental and public cleanliness benefits to be achieved," wrote the governing coalition of PS, MR and Ecolo on page 29 of the coalition agreement.

Tomorrow, the debate on the introduction of a deposit-refund system starts in the environment committee of the Walloon Parliament. The Walloon MPs of the CDH Matagne, Desquesnes, Goffinet, Antoine, Bastin and Dispa (CDH) submitted a proposal for a decree to introduce a deposit-refund system. In the committee, Be WaPP is also presenting its final report on the experiment with reward systems.

Reward system funded by opponents of deposit-refund systems

Fost Plus, an organisation that is against deposit-refund systems and declares this publicly, funded the Be WaPP experiment and sat on the steering committee. The experiment cost €791,072.40.

What is more, in Le Soir of 23 September 2021, a secret agreement was leaked that was concluded in 2016 between the Walloon Environment Minister at the time and the companies united in Comeos, Fevia Wallonie and Fost Plus. Article 13 of that agreement states that funding for the Be WaPP action would be terminated if the Walloon government dared to introduce a deposit-refund system.

Fortunately, the current Walloon Environment Minister Céline Tellier has already responded that the current Walloon government is no longer bound by that agreement.

There are thus several indications that the "pilot project" with reward systems by Fevia, Comeos and Fost Plus was primarily intended to delay the debate on the introduction of a deposit-refund system by several years.

Read our Analysis of the Be WaPP report on reward systems here

This is shown by the Be WaPP final report, which the Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports on today. When the Walloon government began considering a deposit-refund system in 2016, Fost Plus, trade federation Comeos and food federation Fevia set up the non-profit organisation Be WaPP. This non-profit organisation organises, among other things, clean-up actions. Be WaPP also set up a pilot project on "reward systems" for cans: in 18 Walloon municipalities, residents received a voucher of 5 euros per 100 cans they handed in to a machine or at the local municipal counter.

The final report on the experiment shows that it cannot be concluded that the pilot project had any effect on the number of cans in litter. In fact, the data suggests that the decrease that occurred later in the project was probably the result of Covid-19 measures. More details in our evaluation at the bottom of this text.

The costs of the reward system are very high. The project had a cost of €791,072.40, equivalent to 28 euro cents per handed-in can (page 64) and only covered the territory of 18 Walloon municipalities. Although only cans from litter were allowed to be handed in, there is no proof that this actually happened. Control over this was non-existent. By comparison, in the Norwegian deposit-refund system Infinitum, producers pay 0.3 euro cents per can to collect them separately, leading to 70-90% fewer cans in litter across Norway. The Be WaPP reward system is therefore anything but cost-effective.

Proposal for a decree on deposit-refund systems

The Walloon government wrote in its 2019 coalition agreement that it will introduce either a reward system or a deposit-refund system: "After evaluation of the current pilot projects, the Government will defend the progressive implementation, at the level of Belgium, of a deposit-refund system or a reward system for cans and PET bottles, which is economically viable and effective and allows for environmental and public cleanliness benefits to be achieved," wrote the governing coalition of PS, MR and Ecolo on page 29 of the coalition agreement.

Tomorrow, the debate on the introduction of a deposit-refund system starts in the environment committee of the Walloon Parliament. The Walloon MPs of the CDH Matagne, Desquesnes, Goffinet, Antoine, Bastin and Dispa (CDH) submitted a proposal for a decree to introduce a deposit-refund system. In the committee, Be WaPP is also presenting its final report on the experiment with reward systems.

Reward system funded by opponents of deposit-refund systems

Fost Plus, an organisation that is against deposit-refund systems and declares this publicly, funded the Be WaPP experiment and sat on the steering committee. The experiment cost €791,072.40.

What is more, in Le Soir of 23 September 2021, a secret agreement was leaked that was concluded in 2016 between the Walloon Environment Minister at the time and the companies united in Comeos, Fevia Wallonie and Fost Plus. Article 13 of that agreement states that funding for the Be WaPP action would be terminated if the Walloon government dared to introduce a deposit-refund system.

Fortunately, the current Walloon Environment Minister Céline Tellier has already responded that the current Walloon government is no longer bound by that agreement.

There are thus several indications that the "pilot project" with reward systems by Fevia, Comeos and Fost Plus was primarily intended to delay the debate on the introduction of a deposit-refund system by several years.

Read our Analysis of the Be WaPP report on reward systems here