Can I put paper, PMD and food scraps in the residual waste bag (restafval / déchets résiduels), or is sorting compulsory?
In short
No, you cannot put everything in the residual waste. In Flanders and Brussels, regional rules directly require households to sort their waste. In Wallonia there is a general duty to sort; the municipal regulations set out what must be sorted and how.
Video transcript
In the kitchen you have a newspaper, a plastic bottle, a tin, a jar and some food scraps. You want to throw it all into one residual waste bag. Required: You cannot put everything in the residual waste. In Flanders and Brussels sorting is compulsory; in Wallonia there is a general duty to sort. The right way: Keep paper, glass, PMD and food scraps separate. Only empty packaging goes in PMD. Take batteries and paint to the recycling centre. Your municipality sets the calendar. Fines and results: Flanders, Wallonia (GAS): Adults: up to 500 €; Brussels (regional fine): 50 € – 62.500 €; Wrongly sorted bag: May not be collected.
What is not allowed, what is required?
- Flanders: at least paper and cardboard, glass bottles and jars, PMD, bio-waste (food, kitchen and garden waste), textiles and electrical appliances must be put out separately (VLAREMA art. 4.3.1). Bio-waste has been on this list since 8 April 2024.
- Brussels: sorting household waste is compulsory. The white bag may only contain waste that does not have to go to another separate collection (government decree of 9.2.2023, art. 4 §2, second paragraph, 6°). Since 15 May 2023, food waste has gone in a separate bag (the orange bag).
- Wallonia: everyone who holds waste must sort it according to the rules (Waste Decree art. 35). Since 31 December 2023, organic waste must either be separated at source, for example by composting at home, or be collected separately (art. 65 §1).
- In Wallonia, municipalities must offer separate collections for paper and cardboard, PMC and glass. The municipal regulations must discourage people from putting waste that is collected separately door to door into the residual waste (Walloon government decree of 5.3.2008, art. 3 and 5).
- The PMD (PMC) bag is only for empty packaging: plastic packaging, metal packaging and drinks cartons, including plastic trays, film and bags. In Brussels, an item of packaging may hold at most 8 litres; paper and cardboard must be dry and clean.
- Do not put small hazardous waste such as batteries, paint or chemicals in the residual waste; take it to the recycling centre (recyclagepark / parc à conteneurs). In Flanders, disposing of it in any other way is expressly forbidden (VLAREMA art. 5.2.2.2).
- Your municipality or the intermunicipal waste company (intercommunale) sets the bag colours, collection days and official bags; in Brussels this is Bruxelles-Propreté. Check your municipality's waste calendar or app.
- Using a container, putting waste in the shared container of a block of flats or buying the official bags does not remove the duty to sort. In Brussels, waste must go into the container in the correct closed official bag; only for PMC and paper and cardboard can Bruxelles-Propreté require or allow loose deposit (art. 4 §1 and 7 §3). Separate, broader rules apply to businesses.
Penalty and indirect consequences
- Fine / payment
- In Flanders and Wallonia, in practice it is usually a municipal administrative fine under the municipality's GAS / SAC regulations: at most 500 € for adults and at most 175 € for minors. Environmental law also allows higher regional fines. In Brussels, the regional administrative fine is 50 € to 62.500 €; Bruxelles-Propreté gives 75 € as an indicative amount.
Legal basis:Wet 24.6.2013 betreffende de gemeentelijke administratieve sancties, art. 4 §1, 1°Code bruxellois de l'inspection (ordonnance 25.3.1999), art. 45
- Court / prison
- In practice, nobody goes to prison for everyday mistakes with household waste. However, in Flanders and Brussels the law also allows criminal proceedings for breaking these rules; in Brussels the penalty is 8 days – 2 years in prison and/or a fine of 50 € – 100.000 €.
Legal basis:DABM 5.4.1995, art. 16.6.1Code bruxellois de l'inspection, art. 31 §1er
What really matters: the indirect consequences
- A wrongly sorted bag may not be collected; you will have to sort the waste again and put it out on the next collection day
- Leaving an uncollected bag in the street can count as fly-tipping (sluikstorten / dépôt clandestin)
- You may be charged the cost of removing and processing the waste
Legal basis:AGRBC 9.2.2023 relatif aux modalités de collecte des déchets ménagers, Justel, art. 24
What do these terms mean?
- GAS fine
- An administrative fine imposed by the municipality itself. It is not a criminal sentence. The maximum is €500 for adults and €175 for minors. You can appeal within 1 month to the police court (the youth court for minors).
Why does this rule exist?
Sorted paper, plastic, metal and glass become raw materials again, and food waste is turned into compost and biogas. Residual waste is mostly incinerated, and those materials are lost.
Where can you go?
- Neighbourhood mediationA free service of the municipality (buurtbemiddeling / médiation de quartier)
- Neighbourhood police officerProblems that are not urgent (wijkagent / agent de quartier)
- MunicipalityPolice regulation, permits and appeals against a GAS fine
- Social interpreterAt the municipality, the OCMW/CPAS, school and hospital, you can ask for an interpreter in your language; it is often free.
This site does not handle individual cases; it points you to the right service. All help addresses
Source and reliability
Official source- Source check
- 31 / 35 statements in an official source
- Checked: 26.10.2026
- Last checked
- 26.10.2026
- Rules can change
Show the 35 checked statementsopen
- Found in an official source
Flandre: ev atıklarının listesi ayrı verilmeli (kâğıt-karton, cam, bioafval, tekstil, AEEA, PMD …)
VLAREMA (BVR 17.2.2012), Justel geconsolideerde tekst (bijgewerkt tot 13-07-2026), art. 4.3.1 - Found in an official source
Bioafval 8.4.2024'ten beri listede (BVR 22.12.2023 md. 45)
BVR 22.12.2023 tot wijziging van het VLAREMA, art. 45 (in werking 08-04-2024) - Found in an official source
Bioafval tanımı yemek ve mutfak atığını kapsar
Materialendecreet 23.12.2011, art. 3 §1, 9°/1 - Found in an official source
Hukuki dayanak: Hükümet ayrı toplamayı zorunlu kılabilir; kurallara aykırı atık yönetimi yasak
Materialendecreet 23.12.2011, art. 9 §1 en art. 12 §1 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: ev atığı sahipleri atığı ayırmak zorunda
AGRBC 9.2.2023 relatif aux modalités de collecte des déchets ménagers, Justel, art. 4 §2, al. 1er - Found in an official source
Brüksel: karışık (résiduels) poşete yalnızca başka ayrı toplamaya gitmeyen atık
AGRBC 9.2.2023 relatif aux modalités de collecte des déchets ménagers, Justel, art. 4 §2, al. 2, 6° - Found in an official source
Brüksel: yemek atığı poşeti 15.5.2023'ten beri
AGRBC 9.2.2023 relatif aux modalités de collecte des déchets ménagers, Justel, art. 29 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: genel ayırma yükümlülüğü (ordonnance)
Ordonnance bruxelloise du 14.6.2012 relative aux déchets, art. 19 §2 - Reliable secondary source
Brüksel: yemek atığı poşetinin rengi turuncu
Ville de Bruxelles – Le sac orange obligatoire - Found in an official source
Valonya: her atık sahibi atığını ayırır
Décret wallon 9.3.2023 relatif aux déchets, à la circularité des matières et à la propreté publique, Justel, art. 35 - Found in an official source
Valonya: biyoatık en geç 31.12.2023'ten itibaren kaynağında ayrılır/geri dönüştürülür veya ayrı toplanır (md. 65 §1)
Décret wallon 9.3.2023 relatif aux déchets, à la circularité des matières et à la propreté publique, Justel, art. 65 §1er - Found in an official source
Evde kompost bir seçenek olarak
AGW 5.3.2008 relatif à la gestion des déchets issus de l'activité usuelle des ménages, Justel, art. 3 §1er - Found in an official source
Valonya: asgari hizmette kâğıt-karton, PMC, cam ayrı fraksiyonlar
AGW 5.3.2008 relatif à la gestion des déchets issus de l'activité usuelle des ménages, Justel, art. 3 §1er - Found in an official source
Valonya: belediye yönetmeliği, kapıdan kapıya ayrı toplanan atıkların karışık çöpe karıştırılmasını caydırmalı (dissuader)
AGW 5.3.2008 relatif à la gestion des déchets issus de l'activité usuelle des ménages, Justel, art. 5 - Found in an official source
PMD = tüm plastik ambalajlar, metal ambalajlar ve içecek kartonları
VLAREMA (BVR 17.2.2012), Justel geconsolideerde tekst (bijgewerkt tot 13-07-2026), art. 1.2.1 §2, 67° - Found in an official source
Brüksel: PMC poşetine yalnız boş ambalaj, en fazla 8 litre; kâğıt-karton kuru ve temiz
AGRBC 9.2.2023 relatif aux modalités de collecte des déchets ménagers, Justel, art. 4 §2, al. 2, 1° et 2° - Found in an official source
Valonya: PMC'ye plastik ambalaj filmleri ve poşetler de dahil (2017'den beri)
AGW 5.3.2008 relatif à la gestion des déchets issus de l'activité usuelle des ménages, Justel, art. 3 §1er - Found in an official source
Flandre: küçük tehlikeli atığı başka yolla atmak yasak
VLAREMA (BVR 17.2.2012), Justel geconsolideerde tekst (bijgewerkt tot 13-07-2026), art. 5.2.2.2 - Found in an official source
Belediye toplamayı yönetmelikle düzenler (Flandre)
Materialendecreet 23.12.2011, art. 26, derde lid - Found in an official source
Valonya: belediye yönetmeliği uygulama ayrıntılarını belirler
Décret wallon 9.3.2023 relatif aux déchets, à la circularité des matières et à la propreté publique, Justel, art. 53 §6 - Found in an official source
GAS idari para cezası: yetişkin 500 €, küçük 175 € üst sınır
Wet 24.6.2013 betreffende de gemeentelijke administratieve sancties, art. 4 §1, 1° - Found in an official source
Brüksel: bölgesel alternatif idari ceza 50–62.500 €
Code bruxellois de l'inspection (ordonnance 25.3.1999), art. 45 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: ayırmamak suç/ihlaldir (ordonnance md. 49, 1°)
Ordonnance bruxelloise du 14.6.2012 relative aux déchets, art. 49 - Reliable secondary source
Bruxelles-Propreté: ayırmama için gösterge tutar 75 €
Bruxelles-Propreté – Fines (arama sonucu özeti; sayfa bu ortamdan açılamadı) - Found in an official source
Flandre: çevre kurallarının ihlali (kasıt veya ihmal) ceza davası konusu olabilir
DABM 5.4.1995, art. 16.6.1 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: Code de l'inspection md. 31 §1 ceza aralığı
Code bruxellois de l'inspection, art. 31 §1er - Reliable secondary source
Yanlış ayrılmış poşet toplanmaz, yeniden ayrılıp çıkarılır (Brüksel)
Bruxelles-Propreté / Evere (arama sonucu özetleri) - Found in an official source
Brüksel: masraf ihlal edene ödetilir
AGRBC 9.2.2023 relatif aux modalités de collecte des déchets ménagers, Justel, art. 24 - Found in an official source
Valonya: genel ayırma yükümlülüğü (md. 35); ayrıntı belediye yönetmeliğinde (md. 53 §6)
Décret wallon 9.3.2023 relatif aux déchets, à la circularité des matières et à la propreté publique, Justel, art. 35 et 53 §6 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: ayırmamak (ordonnance md. 19) md. 31 §1 cezasıyla cezalandırılır
Ordonnance bruxelloise du 14.6.2012 relative aux déchets, art. 49 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: konteynere atık resmî poşetle; poşetsiz yalnızca md. 7 §3'e göre (PMC ≤ 8 l, kâğıt-karton)
AGRBC 9.2.2023 (collecte des déchets ménagers), art. 4 §1, al. 3 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: apartman konteynerlerinde de ayırma kuralı aynı; kapalı resmî poşet
AGRBC 9.2.2023, art. 7 §3 - Found in an official source
Brüksel: kurum PMC ve kâğıdın konteynere poşetsiz atılmasına izin verebilir
AGRBC 9.2.2023, art. 7 §3 - Reliable secondary source
Resmî poşet satın almak (vervuiler betaalt) ayırmadan muaf tutmaz — mevzuatta böyle bir istisna yok
VLAREMA (BVR 17.2.2012), Justel, art. 5.1.1 en 4.3.1 - Found in an official source
İşletmeler için ayrı kural (VLAREMA 4.3.2)
VLAREMA (BVR 17.2.2012), Justel, art. 4.3.2 §1
The checked statements are in Turkish, as in the source text. This check does not replace legal advice.
General information, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a lawyer or free legal aid. How was this information prepared?