From Policy to Peelings: How Loes Vandecasteele Helped Mechelen Compost Its Way to SDG 12

Target 12.5 – Substantially reduce waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse

In the Belgian city of Mechelen, organic waste made up more than half of what residents were throwing in the bin. Food scraps, garden trimmings, coffee grounds, all ending up in incinerators or landfill, despite their value as compost. And in many neighbourhoods, especially those with narrow streets or high-density housing, there was no separate collection for this kind of waste.

But where most people saw a logistical problem, Loes Vandecasteele, the city’s project coordinator for environment and sustainability, saw something else: potential.

In 2020, Loes helped launch a practical idea rooted in local action. She designed a community composting scheme that didn’t rely on big trucks or expensive infrastructure. Instead, it would be led by residents, supported by small grants, and built with reclaimed materials and public trust.

The plan was simple: any local group, a street, a school, a tenants' association, could apply for a subsidy of up to €5,000 to set up a composting hub in their neighbourhood. The city would provide guidance. Local composting experts would deliver training. But the people doing the actual sorting, turning, collecting and using of the compost? That would be the community.

It didn’t take long to catch on.

By 2021, the first pilot sites were up and running. Some were tucked into allotments. Others transformed forgotten corners of public space. Compost bays were built from reclaimed wood. Informal rotas were set up to check temperatures and turn the piles. Compost was used in shared gardens and food projects. Schoolchildren came by on field trips. Neighbours met while dropping off vegetable peelings.

And crucially, it worked. Not just technically, but socially.

People began to understand how waste worked. They saw how much food was being thrown away. They talked about soil. They asked what else could be reused. And with each bucket of peelings, waste became less invisible.

By 2024, eleven composting hubs were operating across Mechelen, diverting hundreds of tonnes of organic waste from landfill. Each one had its own personality, shaped by the people who ran it. But all shared the same core idea: waste management doesn’t need to be centralised to be effective, and behaviour change starts with shared responsibility.

The city saved money on waste transport and processing. Residents gained access to free, nutrient-rich compost. And a sense of local ownership emerged. People didn’t just comply, they cared.

What made this initiative stand out was Loes’s approach. She didn’t try to force behaviour change from above. She created a structure that enabled others to lead, then stepped back. She matched municipal policy with human-scale practice. She made it easy for people to try, and safe for them to fail. That’s why it grew.

This is what SDG 12.5 looks like in real life. It’s not about clever slogans or bins with fancy labels. It’s about designing systems that make reduction and reuse part of daily routines and putting those systems in the hands of the people who use them.

Loes didn’t wait for a national campaign. She took one part of the problem, organic waste, and made it visible, manageable, and community-driven. And because of that, Mechelen now has one of the most accessible and replicable community composting models in Europe.

Your Voice. Your Target. Your Legacy.

If your town, campus or neighbourhood wants to tackle waste in a way that sticks, start with what’s already being thrown away. Share the tools. Train people well. Keep the system simple. Celebrate every kilo diverted. And let local pride carry it forward.

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