With the help of the website you can analyze your own consumption over a period of four weeks. It offers a 3-step program.

Step 1: How much am I wasting ?: You measure the amount of the food you waste through (if applicable): your white bin, your orange bag, etc.

Step 2: Why am I wasting? You indicate the reasons for the food you waste.

Step 3: How can I reduce my waste? You can consult the solutions proposed online and establish your personalized program to reduce the amount of food you waste.

A launch workshop is going to be held on September 25 and you can register for it through this link.

The post Food Waste Watchers website helps you reduce food waste appeared first on Brussels Express.

The garbage collectors who brought the waste back to the Neder-over-Heembeek incinerator discovered that some of it showed a radioactivity level of 26 microsieverts, above the safety limit of 20 microsieverts.

“We plan to isolate the contaminated waste and monitor the team to ensure their state of health,” explained Etienne Cornesse, a spokesman for Brussels-Cleanliness.

The clothes of the workers who collected the rubbish have been thrown away, while the workers themselves were given a mandatory check-up at the military hospital in Neder-over-Heembeek.

As for the waste itself, it has been placed in a quarantined refrigerator, and will remain there for at least one month. “When the level of radioactivity falls below 20 microsieverts, the waste can be incinerated,” said Mr Cornesse, who also added that this sort of situation occurs approximately two to three times a month.

Most of the time, such radiation emanates from medical waste, for example from the discarded clothes of people who have undergone chemotherapy or X-rays. If the level of radioactivity is too high, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control takes charge of the disposal and treatment of the contaminated waste.

The post Radioactive substances detected in Brussels garbage cans appeared first on Brussels Express.

The Brussels Region had recently requested €203,000 in compensation from the tobacco industry, to be used specifically for cleaning the capital’s streets of cigarette butts. In response to this request, Cimabel (Belgian-Luxembourg federation of cigarette manufacturers), Fetabel (the federation of producers and importers of rolling tobacco in Belgium and Luxembourg) and the Belgian subsidiary of the multinational Philip Morris sent a letter to the Brussels Secretary of State for Cleanliness, Fadila Laanan, informing her of their willingness to cooperate, provided that there was sufficient evidence that cigarette butts constituted a significant proportion of all Brussels litter.  The study conducted by the Agence Bruxelles Propreté was carried out primarily as a response to this request from the tobacco industry.

The Dernière Heure article also reported that a survey conducted in 2018 by Tabacstop found that smokers represent 26% of the Brussels population. The Region intends to take measures to reduce this figure.

The post 30% of litter in Brussels is cigarette butts appeared first on Brussels Express.

The collection of white and yellow bags of the following municipalities were affected: Anderlecht, Berchem, Etterbeek, Evere, Ganshoren, Haren, Jette, Koekelberg, Laken, Molenbeek, Sint-Gillis, Schaerbeek, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert.

Bruxelles-Propreté asks residents whose bags have not been picked up to return them home and re-deposit them at the next collection.

The post Climate strike caused disturbances in waste collection appeared first on Brussels Express.

The office of research and juridical processing in Schaerbeek has doubled its agents, from 4 to 8. The plan is to expose perpetrators of the law, those who dispose their garbage cans at an inappropriate time or place. Such non-compliance will be faced with a 180 euro fine per bag and 455 euro fine per cubic meter.

In total, approximately 19 tons of waste are collected daily in this municipality.

Throughout 2018, they reported that 78,000 interventions took place in the area.

The post In Schaerbeek you could be fined up to 455 Eur for dumping garbage in the street appeared first on Brussels Express.

The post Bulky waste collection in March appeared first on Brussels Express.

If the minister’s office cannot pick an ideal time for the passage of garbage trucks, the idea of night pick-ups ought to be under consideration, reported news outlet DH.

Collecting garbage at night would raise the concern about noise but leaving waste for too long in the streets is also an issue that plenty have put on the table. Traffic caused by waste collection during busy times the day is also being discussed.

The post Will garbage be collected at night in Brussels? appeared first on Brussels Express.

Part of the issue seems to be insufficient funding for municipal waste management. This is clear when you discover that waste collection happens on weekday mornings, usually around rush hour, when it is usually done in the late night to avoid worsening traffic conditions. The lack of garbage containers also contributes to the problem: you are only supposed to take out waste the day before collection. But some people have too much trash and little space, meaning they just abandon it on the sidewalk.

There is also a lack of civic culture or perhaps even love for Brussels. The fact that there are problems with waste makes it harder to try and make an effort about it. Test Achats recommends a mix of incentives, such as deposits for aluminium and glass, as well as giving the city more resources to face these issues, for instance by financing civil society associations that could contribute to cleaning up the city.

But this is Brussels, and of course citizens have taken it to make people aware about the situation. Shown in this article are my two favourite posters, which while humorous, catch the attention and urge people to change their behaviour. We cannot expect the upcoming elections to bring radical change to how waste is managed in Brussels, but it is a crucial part of what makes a city liveable. The survey by Test Achats sheds only a dim light on what needs to be done for Brussels to be as clean as Kigali.

The post Brussels: A very dirty city? appeared first on Brussels Express.

The creation of non-biodegradable waste – unknown to nature and recent for mankind- is pervasive in our everyday life. 418 kilograms of waste are produced by every person living in Brussels each year, with slight decreases but overall little variations in the last decade. The plastic should not end up in the wild: it is burned and produces electricity. But this means it produces CO2, further contributing to climate change. Efforts by the industry are close to insignificant, with a tendency to increase plastic packaging unnecessarily, and sometimes to ridiculous extents such as the below peeled and wrapped bananas. The government often does too little too late, like the 2017 ban on non reusable or recyclable bags in shops in Brussels.

Citizens have a power to change this: the first Plastic Attack has been staged in Belgium this year, which consisted in protesting excess plastic by leaving it all behind once they had shopped in supermarkets. Furthermore, people can vote with their wallets and favor shops that offer the possibility to buy in bulk. Zero Waste Belgium has a map of all stores that sell bulk products.

It requires a bit more organization but habits are quickly formed. You can also separate food waste in orange bags, which helps to produce green energy and produce compost.

There are a number of resources online to further your zero waste adventure, from making your own detergent to making your own make up. If you want support and speak French, why not sign up to be eligible for free environmental coaching ? The important thing is to start with what you are comfortable, and take little steps to reduce your waste. A year from now you might have the joy of only taking down the white garbage bag once a fortnight.

The post Environmental initiatives in the city: Zero Waste Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

The City of Brussels organizes 3 collections of bulky waste every year. These collections take place according to a mixed formula:

• containers are placed in districts to allow the local residents to put down their big waste there, the places are announced in a leaflet, distributed approximately 15 days before the beginning of the campaign
• the possibility is offered to persons who have difficulties moving, to ask for a removal at home

Each family living in the City of Brussels has the right to put down 2 m3 of bulky waste. An ID card will be asked on the spot to verify the residence in Brussels.

The collection is thus a good opportunity to get rid of your TV, furniture and other broken electrical devices. Small chemical waste is also allowed (except acids, bases, solvents, injection needles, photo products, white spirit).

Good to know:

• Construction waste, garden waste and tires are not allowed.

Calendar:

Monday 11 June

De Wand

Avenue du Forum / Avenue Mutsaard

Neder-Over-Heembeek

• Place Peter Benoit
• Rue du Ramier and Rue des Faînes
• Rue G. Biebuyck (between the Avenue des Croix de Guerre and the Rue du Général Michel)
• Rue de la Tour Japonaise (between Rue Knijf and number 14)

Wednesday 13 June

Centre

• Place du Nouveau Marché aux Grains
• Rue de la Chapelle and Rue du St-Esprit
• Boulevard du Midi
• Place des Barricades

Friday 15 June

North

• Avenue de l’Heliport and Chaussée d’Anvers
• Avenue de l’Heliport 22-34

Haren

Rue du Beemdgracht

Centre

• Rue de Witte de Haelen
• Place Anneessens

Tuesday 19 June

Laeken

• Boulevard du Centenaire and Place Saint.-Lambert
• Place Emile Bockstael
• Rue Claessens
• Parvis Notre-Dame
• Rue du Javelot  and Houba de Strooper (parking Stade Roi Baudouin)

Thursday 21 June

Nord-East

• Rue des Confédérés 70
• Nord-Est
• Rue Joseph II
• Avenue Louise
• Avenue Franklin Roosevelt and Avenue Vénézuela

Saturday 23 June

Neder-Over-Heembeek

• Place Peter Benoit
• Neder-Over-Heembeek
• Rue G. Biebuyck (between the Avenue des Croix de Guerre and the Rue du Général Michel)
• Centre
• Place du Nouveau Marché aux Grains
• Haren
• Rue du Beemdgracht
• North-East
• Rue des Confédérés 70
• Avenue Louise
• Avenue Louise and Rue du Châtelain
• Laeken
• Rue du Javelot and Houba de Strooper (parking Stade Roi Baudouin)
• Rue Claessens

The post City of Brussels collects bulky waste in June appeared first on Brussels Express.