Fost Plus launched a new national campaign on 16 September to put the spotlight back on the sorting message for PMD. This is necessary, as we are seeing more and more items turning up in the blue bags that definitely don’t belong there. And that’s less harmless than we might think.
The expansion of the blue bag category, which took place several years ago now, was a great success. Packaging that we might have had doubts about in the past, such as yoghurt pots or plastic bags, is now definitely allowed in. This is obviously good news, as it means we’re collecting more materials than ever for recycling – in fact, more than 24 kg per inhabitant in 2023. It also makes the sorting message much simpler for citizens.
Foreign objects and problem items
However, the pendulum seems to have swung back the other way, and we’ve become just a little over-enthusiastic. More and more things are ending up in the PMD bag that simply don’t belong there. Above all, the quantity of non-packaging materials has increased: inflatable swimming pools, shoes, textiles, coat racks, toys – you name it, we’ve come across it. The objects are also getting bigger and bigger: pipes, buckets, flower pots, even car tyres and toolboxes.
This inevitably causes problems on the sorting lines, as the machines are set up to sort the typical packaging from the blue bag – bottles, jars, cans, small pieces of film, and so on. When these ‘foreign’ and outsized objects end up on the sorting belts, they disrupt the automated processes.
Toys and discarded electric items in the blue bag may seem harmless at first glance, but the opposite is true. They cause jammed equipment and fire hazards at sorting centres. Moreover, these valuable materials are lost.
Increasing fire and explosion hazards
Unfortunately, jammed equipment is not the only problem: dangerous situations are becoming more common too. These are mainly due to the increasing presence of electrical and electronic devices in the PMD bags, such as discarded laptops, smartphones or game consoles, not to mention electric toothbrushes and electronic greeting cards.
Almost all such items contain lithium batteries, which can spontaneously ignite in the event of a short circuit, overheating or damage. The associated flash fire, in combination with the flammable material, poses major risks. We receive almost weekly reports of collection vehicles catching fire or incidents at our sorting centres, which are rightly very concerned about the safety of their employees.
Radical measures needed
The proportion of sorting errors has risen non-stop since the beginning of 2024. We expect to receive around 40,000 tonnes of mis-sorted material this year, which would represent a staggering 10 million incorrectly sorted PMD bags. What’s more, a significant proportion of that material – some 30 to 40% – is perfectly recyclable, though not through the PMD recycling chain. Incorrect sorting means that all this material is lost.
These examples provide plenty of reasons to take the sorting rules more seriously. With the new national campaign, we want to get the general public to sit up and take notice, and to get back to what the blue bag is really for: collecting household packaging. The main character in the campaign is a mis-sorted toy chicken, which is obviously not packaging. With the jingle ‘If it’s packaging, it can go in the bag,’ we remind everyone why she shouldn’t have ended up there.
Discover the campaign
The national campaign runs from 16 September to the end of November and can be seen on radio, television, posters and online channels.
Watch the campaign video in Dutch.
Watch the campaign video in French.