2023-11-29 05:00:00
This resident of Haren had no idea that throwing a small plastic bag, containing some waste, into his car could cost him so much. He tells us about this unpleasant surprise via the orange Alert us button.
Passing through the town of Evere with his wife to go to the pharmacy, Jean-Louis, a resident of Haren, decides to get rid of some waste found in his car. “I think there was a pack of cigarettes, two cans and some tissues“, he remembers. These few belongings, the couple decided to collect them in a plastic bag and throw it in a public trash can.
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A few days later, a registered letter arrives in their mailbox. This informs the couple that their waste has been found and that they would have to pay a fine of up to €350.
If the cleaning services of the municipality of Evere were able to find Jean-Louis and his wife, it is because of a letter which was also in this plastic bag thrown in the trash. In fact, municipal agents, but also from Bruxelles-propreté, have the role of investigating trash bins in order to look for evidence.
If I had known, I would have spilled the plastic in it
“I don’t see the problem in throwing a plastic bag in a trash can.“, reacts Jean-Louis. “If I had known, I would have spilled the plastic in it“.
Household waste
This bag is actually considered “household waste”. This is waste produced by a household. It is not allowed to dispose of it in a public trash can, but rather in the trash bags provided for this purpose.
It seems that it is the number of waste and the associated document thus concentrated which explains why it was considered as household waste.
The municipality of Evere recalls this on its website: “Remember that these bins are intended to receive small waste such as paper, cans, snack packaging, etc. and are equipped with an ashtray. Under no circumstances are they intended to receive bags of household waste nor to collect clandestine deposits of bulky objects under penalty of an administrative fine of up to €350“.
“Ever since I was little, I have been throwing things in the trash. There, we get penalized because we throw it in a trash can. It’s a bit excessive“, Jean-Louis is scandalized
The town of Evere at war against overflowing trash cans
It must be said that Evere has decided to tighten the screws in its fight against incivility linked to waste. The acting mayor, Ridouane Chahid, explains to us: “We realized that our public trash bins were mainly subject to bags of household waste which caused them to overflow.“.
“We increased our controls and we realized that it is mainly people passing through Evere who deposit household waste in these public bins which should be collected in regulatory bags.“, deplores the mayor. According to him, it is the fact that Evere is a transit municipality, on the border with Brussels, which explains the fact that clandestine deposits are more numerous.
Many bags of garbage have already been found next to the trash cans, or even worse: “We often see cars stopping in front of homes, opening the trunk of their vehicle, taking out one or two trash cans and depositing them near a home with which they have no connection.“, denounces Ridouane Chahid.
There are fewer illegal deposits, even less waste
The repression put in place against these acts is, according to the mayor, already bearing fruit: “Since June, we have already observed a drastic reduction in certain points that we had identified. There are fewer illegal deposits, even less waste“. He informs us that soon, mobile cameras will be installed in order to “to clearly identify people who commit this type of incivility“.
Jean-Louis does not intend to stop there. He considers that his waste was not household waste and that this sanction was unnecessary. He has already written to the municipality. In these cases, an appeal is always possible. Ridouane Chahid confirms: “The person has the possibility of responding to this sanction by justifying themselves. We have the possibility of offering to the person to be heard orally so that they can explain exactly their action“.
He hopes that this sanction will be canceled; to find out, he will have to wait a few more months.
waste evere Haren public trash bin waste treatment waste collection
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