Dendermonde (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Residents of DDS-Verko’s 8 municipalities can use waste bags without stickers for the 1st time in 2026 collection; Anika Bust says new stickers arrive next week; Merelbeke-Melle is exempt, IM manages collection. Dendermonde already sold out.
As VRT News reported, residents of the 8 municipalities served by DDS-Verko—Dendermonde, Berlare, Buggenhout, Hamme, Laarne, Lebbeke, Wetteren, and Wichelen—can put out their household waste without the new “compensation sticker” during the first collection of 2026.
This comes after a sharp rise in the price of garbage bags for both household waste and PMD. Residents who still have older bags must attach a sticker for them to be collected. If a sticker is missing, the waste will not be taken, following the rules of the intermunicipal company.
“Due to an unexpected stock shortage at the distribution points, not everyone was able to purchase compensation stickers in time,”
according to a press release from the intermunicipal organisation Verko.
What will DDS-Verko residents need to know about 2026 waste stickers?
The delivery of the new stickers has faced delays, leaving some households without access to them. To avoid disruption, DDS-Verko confirmed that the first collection of 2026 will accept bags without a sticker.
“To avoid penalising bona fide residents, Verko will be flexible in applying the new rates during the first collection of household waste bags in each municipality,”
says Verko spokesperson Anika Bust.
A new batch of compensation stickers will be handed out to residents next week. However, the new sticker rules do not apply in the recently merged municipality of Merelbeke-Melle. The Melle submunicipality is part of the DDS-Verko waste collection area, but residents there do not have to attach stickers to their garbage bags. In Merelbeke, waste collection is managed by IM, and while prices for household waste are increasing, the rise is less steep than in the DDS-Verko area.
The municipal council of Merelbeke-Melle has decided to adjust the price difference internally. This ensures that all residents in the merged municipality pay the same amount for waste collection, no matter which submunicipality they live in. Officials also confirmed that fees for recycling parks will remain unchanged in 2026.
Situations were previously encountered in Belgium. During the period 2015-2017, intermunicipal companies (IMCs), such as IBW and Igean, requested residents to place new stickers on existing yellow bags, which had not increased in price, which is considered unusual.
In merged municipalities, Sint-Niklaas and Belsele, councils changed their internal rates to a common rate for all residents. In 2018, there was a shortage of stickers in Antwerp, and as a result, waste collection services allowed customers to use their own stickerless yellow bags, at least until the stickers were received.
