A particulate filter that does not work properly is regularly not replaced or even completely removed, resulting in higher emissions of harmful substances. Belgium now has a way of automatically exposing these types of practices.
In Belgium, there will be ‘green speed cameras’ to detect and remove cars without a particulate filter or with a malfunctioning one. The systems will initially be used in Brussels and in the port of Antwerp, it reports VRT NWS. A trial measuring 200,000 vehicles has recently been completed. An innovative measuring program with sensors on the public road at various locations in Flanders has been used.
The study commissioned by Zuhal Demir, the Flemish Minister for the Environment, shows that a small group of these ‘particulate filter fraudsters’ causes a lot of environmental damage. These are trucks whose catalytic converter does not work due to fraud with AdBlue, but passenger cars with a diesel engine from before 2019 also regularly emit much more nitrogen oxides than the manufacturers promise.
In 2017, it turned out that many Belgian car owners remove the particulate filter and can easily get away with it. Here in the Netherlands, people also want to suppress such practices. To this end, a tightening of the MOT for diesel cars must ensure. As of July 1, 2022, the MOT for diesel cars will check whether there is still a particulate filter present and, if so, its operation will be tested. In case of insufficient functioning or even the lack of a particulate filter, a repair or the installation of a new one must take place, otherwise the car will not pass the inspection.