OVAM | Flanders recycling and reuse sectors achieve strong growth in 2024

The recycling sector in Flanders made significant progress in 2024, collecting a total of 93 697 tonnes of reusable goods, a 10% increase from 2023. On average, 13.7 kg per inhabitant was collected, reflecting growing citizen engagement with recycling centers. Reuse also increased, with 42 881 tonnes of goods resold or repurposed, a 7% rise, reaching 6.3 kg per inhabitant. Textile reuse showed the strongest growth (+32%), highlighting the sector’s focus on sorting and saleability. Including informal and online channels, the overall reuse indicator for Flanders reached 32.04 kg per inhabitant, demonstrating that reuse is increasingly embedded in local consumption habits. 

This growth is supported by factors like strong local presence, social employment, collaboration with municipalities, and ample collection and sales points. Challenges remain, including finding suitable staff, declining quality of donations (especially textiles), affordable spaces for stores and workshops, and fair compensation. Achieving sustainable consumption and reuse requires shared responsibility: producers through circular design, governments and civil society through awareness, and consumers by caring for items and embracing second-hand use. OVAM reinforced this in 2024 with two campaigns: Herkans, promoting second-life products, and Atticafobie, encouraging people to rediscover forgotten items in their attics.  

Source: https://ovam.vlaanderen.be (in Dutch)