Approximately 22 municipal staff members, two representatives from the Collège, and six traders from the Dalle de Louvain-la-Neuve visited the Valtris sorting plant in Couillet on October 1st. The aim was to understand the journey of PMC (blue) packaging collected in Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and other areas.
Philippe Noël, the guide, explained that the plant processes waste from In BW (Brabant Wallon), BEP (Namur), Tibi (Charleroi), and even Limburg, serving a population of 1.7 million. The facility sorts 50,000 tons of waste annually using 3 km of conveyor belts, with 80% of the materials recycled within Belgium or Europe.
Visitors became aware of simple yet crucial actions: removing films from trays, crushing bottles lengthwise, and detaching films from bottle labels. The guide strongly urged emptying packaging of food residue to prevent odors, flies, and rats, stressing that the effort must begin at home.
The plant was temporarily halted due to a machine breakdown on the sorting belt, preventing visitors from observing the staff at work. The guide noted that inappropriate waste, such as industrial plastic films, frequently jams the machinery. Items found included batteries, lighters, USB drives, knives, forks, hangers, hairdryers, toys, containers filled with urine or needles, and even dead animals, making the sorters' job demanding and potentially hazardous.
The sorting quality, monitored by an external facility, stands at 95%. Sorted waste is then compacted into bales weighing 250 to 600 kg for various recycling streams. Plastic bottles are separated by color to ensure material purity, exemplified by the on-site recycling of clear transparent bottles by the company Filao.
The visit also highlighted the presence of fire suppression systems, necessary due to potentially hazardous materials like electronic devices, pressurized containers, or toys with batteries, which pose 'ticking time bomb' risks.
It was reiterated that the blue bag is exclusively for single-use packaging (plastics, metals, beverage cartons), not plastic toys, pens, or buckets. Packaging must be empty, and absorbent films from meat or fish trays should be removed to prevent insect infestation at the plant. Multi-material drink pouches like 'Capri-Sun' are not recyclable. It is advised not to nest waste items and to heed hazard symbols on packaging.
