Belgian website shows European companies the way around packaging waste legislation

For the first time, European companies can easily find all the basic information on packaging waste legislation in the 28 member states of the European Union. VAL-I-PAC, the organization assuming the recycling obligations for industrial packaging in Belgium, has gathered all this information on a new website, wikiwasteschemes.com. "We want to encourage similar organizations in Europe to join us in sharing their information," says Johan Sneyers, CEO of VAL-I-PAC.

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The diversity of regulations in Europe is of great concern to many companies. Europe may have free movement of goods and services, but in practice, companies wanting to expand into the European market frequently get lost in a maze of rules and laws. Often, the companies seeking to become commercially active in neighbouring countries first have to figure out how they can comply with the packaging laws in those other European countries. Thanks to Wikiwasteschemes, all the necessary information on packaging waste has now been centralized.

Sharing knowledge

VAL-I-PAC would like to share its expertise with other countries.

In order to help our clients, we had gathered a great deal of information on the European packaging waste legislation. We first intended to only use that information internally, but then we noticed growing interest for it. Therefore we decided to share our knowledge. Meanwhile, we've received many positive reactions from environmental coordinators and similar organizations abroad, among others. 

Johan Sneyers, CEO of VAL-I-PAC

On the website you can quickly find out, for every country, which organization is in charge of the legislation, who assumes the producers' liability abroad, and which objectives must be achieved. The local organizations responsible for waste management have contributed to the site's content. For the first time, a European organization has centralized and shared the information of all member states. Every person concerned can modify and add information, just like on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The Wikiwasteschemes team checks the suggestions and publishes them after they have been approved. This way, the information is constantly updated and improved.

Leader

In Belgium, 86 percent of companies' packaging waste is now recycled. That makes us Europe’s absolute leader. By sharing our knowledge, we want to make necessary information on other countries accessible to Belgian companies. 

Johan Sneyers

_{About VAL-I-PAC}

 _{​V​AL-I-PAC is a not-for-profit initiative launched by 26 Belgian companies, 20 industry federations and the three regional employers' organizations, VOKA, UWE, and BECI.}

_{​ ​As a private organization, VAL-I-PAC is certified to fulfil the take-back and information obligation for the industrial packaging waste of its members.}

_{​ ​VAL-I-PAC is a multi-sector and multi-material system that works with existing operators, collectors and recycling structures, which offers an economically viable solution for all parties concerned in the three Regions.}

_{The recycling of packaging waste is more efficient if it is properly sorted at the source. This is why VAL-I-PAC gives financial support to companies that make the effort to sort their packaging waste.}