The Brussels Orange Challenge

To encourage food waste sorting, Bruxelles-Propreté launched a challenge to all Brussels citizens.

From 15 May 2023, food waste sorting will be compulsory in the Brussels Region. To get a jump on this obligation to sort food waste, Bruxelles-Propreté has created a fun and original challenge: the Brussels Orange Challenge. The aim is to inform Brussels citizens about the upcoming obligation to sort their food waste, while offering the possibility to easily acquire the small orange container that holds the orange bag.

A very simple challenge

The rules are easy to follow: 3 neighbours, 3 family members or 3 friends, all of whom live in Brussels, decide to form a team and commit to sorting their food waste. They register their team on the website orangechallenge.brussels, and… that will get the ball rolling: they will receive for free at home or nearby their 3 small orange containers. Best of all, they will participate together in a competition that enables 19 teams of 3, one team per Brussels municipality, to each win and receive a box of local and organic food to cook meals for a whole week.

An environment-friendly delivery

The small orange containers will be delivered to the delighted beneficiaries by cargo bike or made available to them at a nearby relay point. In both cases, there will be almost no need for the use of motor vehicles. Which makes perfect sense for a collection aimed at reducing the impact of our food waste on the quality of the air and climate.

Enthusiastic cooking ambassadors

In order to encourage Brussels residents to join the Brussels Orange Challenge and to start sorting their food waste, Bruxelles-Propreté brought on board three kind-hearted celebrities, who are passionate about cooking and seasonal food products: Carlo de Pascale, Mimy au pays des délices, and Albert “Stoemp” Verdeyen. Their innovative video, which Brussels residents can watch on social media, shows each of them speaking their own language very naturally, and having a nice chat as they prepare their meals. It embodies the great melting pot of people in Brussels. “As far as we know, this is the first time that an institution has so successfully combined different languages in a spontaneous communication,” noted Etienne Cornesse, head of Communication at Bruxelles-Propreté.

Animated images of the small orange container and the orange bag

On screens, the orange bag and its companion, the small orange container, are depicted with faces and they appear to come alive. This is deliberate. Etienne Cornesse, head of Communication at Bruxelles-Propreté, explains the thinking behind this idea: “Many people living in Brussels already sort their food waste, either in garden compost or a neighbourhood compost bin, or by using the orange bag. In four months’ time, we will all have to sort our food waste. For many of us, that will mean using the new bag, the orange bag, in our kitchen. The orange container, which is distributed for free by Bruxelles-Propreté, really helps with the sorting in the kitchen or when putting out the orange bag for the weekly collection. Our goal was to create an image of what these two items will become in our kitchens: two friendly helpers for sorting our food waste.”.

First step to adopting a new habit

Alain Maron, Brussels Minister for Climate Transition, Environment, Energy and Public cleanliness, said: “Food waste still makes up 40% of the weight of white bags when full, and incinerating this waste produces greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. It’s vital that households sort their food waste, in line with the environmental goals of the Brussels Region. This campaign on the communication and distribution of the small orange containers will help many citizens to begin sorting food waste, before it becomes compulsory on 15 May 2023.”

What does the Brussels Region’s regulation say?

• Sorting food waste will be compulsory for all households in every municipality of Brussels Region from 15 May 2023.
• This obligation to sort food waste (bio-waste) at source will apply to all European Union Member States from 31 December 2023.

About the Brussels Orange Challenge

The Brussels Orange Challenge is an initiative, set up by Bruxelles-Propreté, to encourage Brussels citizens to start sorting food waste before this becomes compulsory on 15 May 2023. The challenge is open on the site orangechallenge.brussels until 12 February 2023.

To learn more about sorting food waste in the Brussels Region, visit the website organicfoodwaste.brussels

Download images here: https://organicfoodwaste.brussels/documents/