Illness causes staff shortages at Brussels waste collection agency
The Brussels regional waste collection agency Net Brussel is experiencing severe staff shortages as a large number of its waste collectors have reported sick since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Such is the scale of the problem that Net Brussel now says that it can no longer guarantee that waste will be collected on all the hundreds of rounds severed by its bin lorries and waste collectors across the 19 municipalities that make up the Brussels-Capital Region.
Net Brussel is asking people in Brussels not to put out paper and cardboard (yellow bin bag) or PMD waste (blue bin bag) for collection next week. A similar request was made last week to residents of some municipalities such as Elsene.
In a press statement Net Brussel asks people to hold onto the blue and yellow bags until normal services is resumed. Any blue and yellow bags that are put out with be collected with the non-recyclable rubbish (white bags) and as a result will not be recycled.
This is to ensure public hygiene and to make sure that the pavements don’t stay cluttered with garbage bags. Furthermore in an urban context not everyone has the room to store full bin liners in their home.
Net Brussel is unable to say when normal service will be resumed, but has issue an assurance that it is doing all it can to resolve the issue.