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Why do you need to complete a declaration?

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.

This is a cooperation agreement between the 3 regions

with the aim:

  1. reducing packaging waste
  2. boosting the use of environmentally friendly and/or reusable packaging
  3. encouraging the recycling of these packaging
Pourquoi Remplir Une Declaration

The Cooperation Agreement determines who is responsible for packaging and what their obligations are to achieve the recycling percentages imposed.

A company responsible for packaging must meet 3 statutory obligations:

1) TAKE-BACK OBLIGATION

Contrary to what its name might suggest, this obligation does not oblige you to take back the 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 recycled. The Cooperation Agreement has been adapted from a global recycling target of 80% to an objective per packaging material set at:

Material Recycling target
Glass 90%
Paper/cardboard 90%
Metal 90%
Aluminium 75%
Plastic 55%*
Wood 80%

* For plastic household packaging, the recycling rate to be achieved amounts to 65% in 2023 and 70% in 2030.

* For plastic commercial & industrial packaging, the recycling rate to be achieved amounts to 65% in 2030.

2) REPORTING OBLIGATION

Each year, you must report 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 the packaging that your company has placed on the Belgian market.

3) SUBMISSION OF A PREVENTION PLAN

This obligation only applies to companies which:

  • Put at least 300 tonnes of single-use packaging (both household and C&I packaging) on the Belgian market.

OR

  • Pack or have products packed in Belgium with a minimum of 100 tonnes of single-use packaging (both household and C&I packaging).

These obligations are difficult to meet individually. You know which packaging you put 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 C&I packaging.

Household packaging fall within the competence of Fost Plus.

To delegate your obligations to Valipac, we ask you to provide us with a declaration of the C&I 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.