The collection of illegal waste along highways creates security problems and, consequently, the distribution of skills. An overall reflection around the distribution of the missions of the different public actors is underway in order to present a proposal to the future Brussels government.
In a report from this Tuesday, we noticed a mound of waste which continues to grow on the edge of the ring in Anderlecht, just before the exit towards Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. A phenomenon which is not new, but which is becoming more and more uncontrollable. “Unfortunately, this is a situation that we experience far too often in Brussels.“, notes Adel Lassouli, spokesperson for Bruxelles-Propreté. “Illegal deposits are a scourge and our teams work daily to collect them. Each year, we deplore more than 4,000 tonnes of illegal waste which are evacuated by our teams.”
Waste not only from Brussels
In December 2023, the Brussels Institute of Statistics and Analysis (Ibsa) released an “Evaluation of the impact of awareness and sanctions in terms of cleanliness in public spaces” carried out from March 2020 to September 2022 .
In interviews carried out with municipalities and regional institutions responsible for cleanliness, it emerged that the characteristics of the offenders varied greatly. Certain types of offenses can be quite specific to certain categories of target audiences. So, for example, minors commit more offenses around schools and at lunchtime.
Furthermore, according to the municipal and regional actors interviewed, the offenses committed on the territory of the Region are not only committed by residents of the Region. They are also committed by people from the other two regions and sometimes from other countries. The perpetrators of this incivility are individuals and professionals.
Inhabited and residential areas are more likely to receive small deposits from residents. Points without control (sparsely inhabited, uninhabited, fenced, land, empty spaces, etc.) are especially suitable for large deposits, from professionals or residents, this report also points out. Residents of municipalities bordering the Brussels Region take advantage of the capital’s main roads – difficult to monitor – to make their deposits.
Brussels Mobility or Brussels-Cleanliness?
Once these deposits have been observed, the institutional rules specific to the Brussels Region do not facilitate their cleaning. Between regional and municipal roads, cleaning and mobility services pass the buck.
By default, it is Bruxelles-Propreté which is responsible for collecting these deposits, but the agency refuses to send its agents on fast roads for security reasons. For these particular cases, it is the Brussels-Mobility agency, better equipped for this type of intervention, which takes over. But it reminds us that these interventions are not part of its basic missions. These interventions require significant human and material resources, to the point that the agency sometimes has to call on external service providers, which represents a significant cost.
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Discussions are underway to clarify the distribution of skills between the actors in charge of cleaning, “but there is currently a regulatory void“, points out the spokesperson for Brussels Mobility, Camille Thiry. “This is a global reflection on the reassignment of the missions of the various Brussels stakeholders, whether Brussels Cleanliness, Brussels-Mobility, Brussels Environment or even the Stib“, specifies Adel Lassouli. “For the collection of leaves on the roads for example, who is responsible? We are in the process of drawing up an inventory of these missions in order to make a proposal to the future Brussels government..”
In the meantime, Brussels Mobility has agreed to take charge of collecting deposits along expressways until the end of 2025.
Identifications complexes
To avoid these problems, the best solution would obviously be for these repositories not to exist. To do this, fraudsters must be identified and punished, but this is complex. Identification can only be done by two means: images captured by camera and flagrante delicto. However, the first method has already shown its limits: when a camera is installed, the fraudsters are content to go a little further. So this just shifts the problem. Furthermore, from a logistical point of view, video surveillance has the disadvantage of being expensive.
Several mayors, and particularly those from municipalities located on the edge of the Region, are calling for a strengthening of sanctions. They are working on the increase in cameras, but also in officers able to issue fines. They insist on prevention and the importance of better collaboration between levels of power.
When they are identified, the perpetrators of incivility on the public highway incur a tax, an administrative fine or legal proceedings depending on the seriousness of their offense, especially in the event of a repeat offense. The amounts of fines incurred vary from a few tens to several thousand euros. Recently, for example, a company was sanctioned by Bruxelles Propreté to the tune of 15,000 euros for fines and cleaning costs.
Victor de Thier
