OVAM

OVAM 's 2 main activities are waste management and soil management. The waste management policy was initially focused on cleaning up waste and setting up an effective infrastructure for waste management. Now, it has evolved towards a focus on prevention. Properly developed waste management does not automatically lead to sustainable production and consumption. Consequently, ‘sustainable materials management’ has been declared as OVAM’s focus of action. The soil remediation decree provides the Flemish government with a powerful instrument to fight historical as well as recent soil pollution. Priorities in its soil management policy are: redevelopment of 'brown fields' which are abandoned or underexploited industrial sites, implementation of a logical residential area policy,a rbitration in complex contamination cases, remediation of the water bed, in accordance with the European Water Framework Directive, implementation of the Flanders Action Plan for Cadmium