Limburg.net Sorts Garbage Bags of 11 Municipalities to Map Recycling Errors
Waste management company Limburg.net has launched a large-scale audit across 11 municipalities in the Belgian province of Limburg, collecting and manually sorting through household garbage bags to identify what items are being incorrectly disposed of in general waste instead of being recycled. The initiative aims to improve regional recycling rates and help meet the Flemish government’s 2030 target of a maximum of 90 kilograms of residual waste per inhabitant per year, as reported by VRT NWS.
The Audit in Detail
Limburg.net has collected 120 grey garbage bags and household waste containers from the municipalities of Kinrooi, Maasmechelen, Gingelom, Sint-Truiden, Genk, Diepenbeek, Pelt, Zonhoven, Peer, Voeren, and Lommel. From this initial sample, 50 bags will be selected for a detailed manual analysis, with their contents sorted into 40 precise categories.
“We divide the contents into 40 categories, so it’s done very precisely,” said Raf Coenen, spokesperson for Limburg.net.
The company emphasized that the audit is fully anonymous. “The bags cannot be linked to a household. We only want to get a picture of what is still in the residual waste. It would never be our intention to check individual families,” Coenen added.
Common Errors and the 2030 Challenge
Preliminary findings already reveal recurring problems. “We look at which items still end up incorrectly in residual waste, so we can target our awareness campaigns. Today we still see, for example, plastic foil, but also a lot of kitchen waste and food scraps in the grey bags,” Coenen explained.
The urgency of the audit is underscored by the gap between current performance and regulatory targets. Limburg residents currently produce an average of 123 kilograms of residual waste per person per year — a full 33 kilograms above the Flemish government’s 2030 target of 90 kilograms per person per year. That represents a required reduction of approximately 27 percent in just four years.
The Flemish waste agency OVAM has set this binding target as part of a broader waste prevention and recycling strategy. Other intercommunales in Flanders, such as MIROM Menen, are implementing parallel measures including expanded organic waste collection services, increased pricing for residual waste bags under the “polluter pays” principle, and a doubling of the environmental tax on combustible waste as of January 1, 2026, as detailed in MIROM Menen’s policy plan.
Future Audits and Broader Context
Limburg.net plans to conduct further checks later in 2026 and in spring 2027 to map seasonal variations and differences between collection systems. This phased approach will help the company understand how waste composition changes throughout the year and how different collection methods affect sorting behavior.
The audit comes amid broader challenges for the waste management company. In February 2025, VRT NWS reported that one in seven Limburg families did not collect their allocated household waste bags, leaving nearly 1 million euros unclaimed. More recently, in early May 2026, Limburg.net dealt with complaints about pests attracted to waste bags stored improperly in Hasselt, highlighting the practical difficulties residents face with new sorting systems.
Analysis and Implications
The 33-kilogram gap between current waste production and the 2030 target represents a significant challenge. For context, Flanders has lost considerable waste sorting infrastructure over time, and the region is now relying on better sorting at source — meaning households must improve their recycling habits — to meet its goals.
The data from this audit will directly inform public education campaigns and potentially lead to adjustments in collection systems. For residents, this could mean more targeted awareness campaigns about what can and cannot go in general waste, and possibly further pricing changes or restrictions.
What’s Next
The results of the first audit are expected to shape Limburg.net’s communication strategy in the coming months. The subsequent audits planned for late 2026 and spring 2027 will provide a more complete picture of seasonal patterns and help evaluate the effectiveness of any policy changes implemented in the interim.
As the 2030 deadline approaches, the question remains whether the combination of data-driven audits, public education, and financial incentives will be sufficient to close the gap — or whether stricter enforcement measures may eventually be required.