Survey and analysis of litter and fly tipping quantities and policy costs in Flanders

One of the Flemish regional environmental policy goals is to reach a substantial reduction of the quantities and policy costs of litter and fly tipping in Flanders.  Indeed, littering and fly tipping continue to be an important environmental problem that touches each of us in Flanders in one way or another. For both inhabitants and visitors in Flanders it remains a nuisance. Cleaning and processing of these waste flows are very costly, especially for municipalities. Furthermore additional efforts are required from intermunicipal waste organisations, provinces and regional administrations.

In 2015 Flanders' Public Waste Agency (OVAM) launched its first inquiry for assessing the quantities and policy costs of litter for the year 2013. Two years later this analysis was repeated for the year 2015. Yet for the first time fly tipping was included as well, obtaining a wider and more coherent picture. In 2018 this exercise was repeated probing for the state of affairs in the year in 2017 both covering litter and fly tipping, as for the year 2015. The comparability between the methods used for 2015 and 2017 was a key features of the approach, allowing a relevant and valid assessment over time.

The new results for the year 2017 not only provide new and updated evidence on the state of litter and fly tipping in Flanders, but also provide a first view on the evolution between 2015 and 2017, although this has to be interpreted carefully given the use of sample information.