Identification forms for waste collectors (IHM)
As a collector, dealer or broker you are responsible for the identification form. These are your obligations in Flanders, and how to keep them manageable.
Create a free accountLast updated: October 2026
When are you an IHM?
Anyone who arranges the transport of waste produced by others in Flanders must be registered as a collector, dealer or broker (IHM). A container hire company removing full containers, a business emptying customers' septic tanks or a dealer reselling waste streams: all of them are IHMs.
If you also transport the waste yourself, you need a carrier registration as well. A producer that only arranges its own waste is not an IHM.
Your obligations at a glance
- Draw up the identification form in an OVAM-approved system and sign it before departure
- Take the waste to a permitted processor, or have it taken there by a registered carrier
- Keep a waste register, updated every working day and kept digitally for five years
- Report in MATIS every quarter, by 31 May, 31 August, 30 November and 28 February
- Select at least one approved system in IRIS
- Inform your customers about mandatory separation at source
- For hazardous waste: a quality assurance system, inspected within two years of first registration and every four years after that
Who does what on the form?
As an IHM you are responsible for drawing up the form and for its content. You sign with an advanced or qualified electronic signature. The carrier records the start of transport and the hand-over, and the processor confirms receipt. You keep the completed form for at least five years.
Working with other IHMs
If you work with another collector or dealer on the same transport, agree in a contract who draws up the identification form, who reports in MATIS and who keeps the register. Without such a contract, each party is responsible for everything.
Your partners choose their own system
Since the ministerial decree of 3 June 2026 you may not require carriers and processors to use a specific approved system. Through OVAM's interoperability platform (IOP), each party works in its own system. According to OVAM, no forms are being forwarded through the IOP yet.
How FormDesk helps
- Create forms with automatic validation of mandatory fields
- Customer details filled in automatically via the KBO
- Digital signatures: all parties receive a signing request by email
- The FormDesk Driver App for your drivers
- MATIS reporting from your form data
- IRIS participant: ready for the IOP
- €0.12 per form, no subscription and unlimited users
Frequently asked questions
IHMs and the e-IDF at a glance
Yes. Anyone who collects, trades or brokers third-party waste transported from or within Flanders needs an IHM registration. It is free and goes through OVAM's registration portal.
Not automatically. The law only allows the producer to use a collection of identification forms as its register. As an IHM you keep your own register, updated every working day. Your form data does form its basis.
For every transport subject to the identification requirement. A collection round of non-hazardous business waste is exempt. If you collect hazardous waste on that round, a form per address is required.
No. The ministerial decree of 3 June 2026 prohibits it. With the IOP, the carrier can work in its own system.
Sources
Your forms, register and MATIS in one system
Create a free account. €0.12 per form, no subscription and unlimited users.