Open Waste: a powerful alliance for sustainable waste collection

Emission Savings and Environmental Impact

Through its collective system, participating waste companies have jointly saved over 40 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. This estimated saving is based on optimised collection frequencies, route planning and the reduction of empty mileage. An approach that is not only beneficial for the planet, but also demonstrably supports the climate goals of both municipalities and businesses.

Commercial Waste Collectors: Sustainable and Cost-Effective

Open Waste invites other commercial waste collectors to join the collective. Participation offers two key benefits:

Sustainability as a USP: by aligning with Open Waste’s transparent and circular approach, collectors can position themselves as environmentally responsible partners.

Cost-effectiveness: participation leads to more efficient planning, reduced fuel consumption and economies of scale, directly lowering operational costs.

Finalist MLA 2024

In October 2024, Open Waste was awarded a finalist position for the Mans Lejeune Award 2024. The jury report stated the following:

Open Waste, a collaboration of twelve waste collection companies, focuses on zero-emission urban logistics for commercial waste collection. Their goal is to achieve zero-emission collection in forty cities by 2025, reducing traffic congestion and emissions in city centres. The cooperative achieves this by deploying just one collection vehicle per city or municipality on behalf of all fourteen affiliated collectors to serve inner-city SMEs. This approach requires mutual trust among participants and the use of smart ICT solutions. On its website, Open Waste features a results tracker showing estimated savings in CO₂, NOx and particulate matter.

Jury comment (Bart Lombaerts):
"Open Waste has a clear and purposeful strategy, with transparent communication and a fitting organisational structure, which creates broad support among municipalities, businesses and citizens. Their initiative is a perfect example of how efficiency and sustainability can go hand in hand."

Role Lejeune Association Management

As a strategic partner, Lejeune plays a key role in the continued growth of Open Waste. In addition to providing strategic board-level advice and administrative support, the Lejeune team also guides Open Waste in the further development of its marketing strategy. With strong foundations in place — including the website, news articles and social media — the focus now shifts to sharpening its positioning and audience engagement through expanded PR efforts and targeted campaigns on current themes.

Lejeune’s services grow alongside its clients.
Get in touch with Lejeune Association Management to discover what we can do for your association.

Lejeune team Open Waste: Brenda van der Burg, Luc Lejeune & Elke Verbaarschot