Cleaning up Brussels: Citizens Taking Action Against Illegal Waste Dumping

2024-03-17 19:45:00

Illegal waste dumping is a well-established problem in Brussels, renowned for being a dirty city. While the authorities try to put measures in place, citizens are mobilizing to clean the streets themselves.

A quick walk in the heart of the city is enough to see the remains of a sofa at the foot of a tree, while trash presumably thrown from a window hangs from the branches. This is a dismay for some residents of the town: “I think the people who do this are unconscious, or else we have to see what they are like at home.”

Clandestine deposits, a real scourge according to this alderman of cleanliness. Last year, the municipality drew up more than 6,000 reports. An increase of 12% and the bill is steep: “The minimum for clandestine deposits is 500 euros. If it is construction site waste, it is at least 1,000 euros,” specifies Zoubida Jellab.

Authorities who sanction and citizens who clean up. This Sunday followingnoon, around twenty people of different nationalities, equipped with garbage bags, cleaned a district of Anderlecht, renowned for its deposits of rubbish of all kinds.

“We found a lot of cans, a lot of plastic”, “We feel that they are leaving their homes and if their vacuum cleaner no longer works, this is where they will end up”, or even “We really found some everything,” commented the participants.

Victor knows the neighborhood well. This Brussels resident campaigns within an international organization for the cleanliness of oceans and large cities. However, he is convinced that the population is aware: “I think that more and more people have this environmental awareness, this awareness of having to recycle, having to clean, having to tidy up. I think it’s laziness in many cases where in fact people say why go and dump this in a landfill (…) I’m going to dump this here, there’s no one looking, there’s not a camera in the corner.”

If Belgium is the recycling champion in Europe, certain cities in the country still have a lot to do to try to improve their image.

Brussels cleanliness
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