Declaration guide

Your company is a client of Valipac because it is subject to the extended producer responsibility (EPR). This is a concept that makes you, as a producer or importer, responsible for the entire life cycle of your products and packaging which you market in Belgium

This extended producer responsibility took shape during the drafting of a European directive on packaging in 1994. This was transposed in Belgium in 1997 in the Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and management of packaging waste.

Legislation

This is a cooperation agreement between the 3 regions with the aim of:

  • reducing packaging waste
  • boosting the use of environmentally friendly and/or reusable packaging
  • encouraging the recycling of this packaging

The Cooperation Agreement determines who is responsible for packaging and what their obligations are in order to achieve the recycling percentages imposed. A company responsible for packaging must meet 3 statutory obligations:

Take-back obligation

Contrary to what its name might suggest, this obligation does not oblige you to take back your packaging from your customers. The take-back obligation means that each year your company must demonstrate that a certain percentage of the packaging for which you are responsible is actually recycled. The minimum recycling target per packaging material is set at :

Material Recycling target
Glass 90%
Paper/cardboard 90%
Metal 90%
Aluminium 75%
Plastic 50%*
Wood 80%
* for plastic household packaging, the recycling rate to be achieved amounts to 65% in 2023 and 70% in 2030.
* for plastic industrial and commercial packaging, the recycling rate to be achieved amounts to 55% in 2023 and 65% in 2030.
Reporting obligation

Each year, you must declare to the Interregional Packaging Commission (IRPC) that your company has met the targets set by the legislation by informing it of the quantity, type and recycling rate of industrial and commercial packaging that your company has placed on the Belgian market.

 

Submission of a prevention plan

This obligation only applies to companies which:

  • market at least 300 tonnes of single-use packaging (household and industrial & commercial combined) on the Belgian market

OR

  • pack or have products packed in Belgium with a minimum of 100 tonnes of single-use packaging (household and industrial & commercial combined).

Individually, these obligations are difficult to meet. You know which packaging you place on the Belgian market, but not always to what extent this packaging has been sorted by your customers and recycled.

This is why Valipac was established. Our mission is to provide a collective response to our clients’ take-back and reporting obligation regarding industrial and commercial packaging.

Household packaging falls within the competence of Fost Plus.

To delegate your obligations to Valipac, we ask you to provide us with a declaration of the industrial and commercial packaging for which your company is responsible. This declaration must reach us no later than 28 February of each year. With this information, we can take care of your obligations.