FAQ

According to the European Directive 94/62/EC, packaging refers to all products made of any materials of any nature to be used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods, from raw materials to processed goods, from the producer to the user or the consumer. ‘Non-returnable` items used for the same purposes are also considered to constitute packaging.

Packaging consists only of:

• (a) sales packaging or primary packaging, i. e. packaging conceived so as to constitute a sales unit to the final user or consumer at the point of purchase;
• (b) grouped packaging or secondary packaging, i. e. packaging conceived so as to constitute at the point of purchase a grouping of a certain number of sales units whether the latter is sold as such to the final user or consumer or whether it serves only as a means to replenish the shelves at the point of sale; it can be removed from the product without affecting its characteristics;
• (c) transport packaging or tertiary packaging, i.e. packaging conceived so as to facilitate handling and transport of a number of sales units or grouped packaging in order to prevent physical handling and transport damage. Transport packaging does not include road, rail, ship and air containers.

The Cooperation Agreement is a legal framework for the prevention and management of all types of packaging waste in Belgium, whether industrial/commercial or household.

The Cooperation Agreement sets out three statutory obligations for companies placing products on the Belgian market: the reporting obligation, the take-back (i.e. recycling and recovery) obligation and the submission of a prevention plan.
In addition, the Cooperation Agreement outlines a legal framework for accredited compliance organisations, which are responsible for the selective collection of packaging waste arising from businesses and households.

The Cooperation Agreement also contains important legal definitions of packaging and related aspects, as well as regulations on sanctions and checks.

The interregional packaging commission (IRPC) is the public institution that is responsible for Belgian legislation on packaging waste and for waste transit.

Pack It Better is a Belgian initiative whose aim is to promote the use of sustainable packaging by exchanging and sharing knowledge on sustainable household and industrial packaging. We facilitate contacts between knowledge centers and companies looking for information and solutions. We help companies in consciously and wisely making decisions concerning their packaging developments by providing a global picture of the available knowledge.

Pack It Better is a joint initiative between Valipac and Fost Plus, the 2 Belgian EPR-organisations for packaging, and supported by the Belgian industry.

Pack It Better helps you to find the expertise available in Belgium on sustainable packaging.

You will find on this platform general information about new developments, developments and initiatives in the field of sustainable packaging. You can also request specific help by asking the participating organisations your question. Didn’t find what you were looking for? Pack It Better will coordinate the search for answers to your questions.

For a better follow-up of your requests, we put you in contact with our partners ourselves. We can thus check that a contact has been taken and that your request has been processed. If not, we will contact you to provide you with an appropriate solution.

Pack It Better highlights your expertise and helps you make your service offer better known.

We put you in direct contact with companies looking for solutions. This gives you a better view of their needs and allows you to develop your expertise in a more informed way.

Our partners are universities, labs, research centers, material organisations, federations or spearhead clusters whose goal is to improve knowledge on sustainable packaging through research and cooperation with companies. The information they share cannot be of any commercial purpose. Please fill in our application form to become a partner of the network.