Organisation
FOST Plus was founded in 1994 by major Belgian producers and importers of packaged products or packaging materials, distributors and trade organisations. FOST Plus is accredited as an officially approved organisation for household packaging waste management. This accreditation is valid up to and including 2008.
FOST Plus acts as an interface between the various parties involved in the life cycle of packaging: producers, users, distributors, consumers, intercommunities and local authorities, operators, and recycling businesses. Through FOST Plus and the contractual links that have been formed, all of the partners work together effectively. FOST Plus coordinates and finances an optimum selective collection system for different types of household packaging waste.
The collection is organised as follows :
- Glass : bottles, small bottles and jars are collected, colour-sorted, in bottle banks (*).
Coverage : 1 site/1000 inhabitants.
- Paper and cardboard : paper and cardboard packaging are collected door-to-door, once a month, together with scrap paper, newspapers and magazines*.
- PMD (plastic bottles and flasks, metallic packaging and drink cartons) : collected door-to-door, twice a month, in a transparent, light blue bag*
(*) + collection via container parks
FOST Plus makes agreements with intermunicipal authorities for a five-year period during which the local authorities and FOST Plus join forces to reach the specified recovery targets.
To become a member of the system, a company responsible for placing a product on the market (importer, producer or distributor) has to sign a standard membership contract and submit an annual declaration of all household packaging it places on the Belgian market. The contribution paid by the members of FOST Plus is based on the Green Dot fees and calculated each year on the basis of the operational costs for each material type.
