ZERO WASTE EUROPE

What happens when you bring over 60 activists, policy experts, changemakers and overall great human beings together in one place to discuss zero waste for three days? MAGIC. The Network-Wide Gathering (NWG) is not only an opportunity for connection, strategy and learning, but also an important reminder of what we do, why we do it […]

The post Planting seeds of hope in a volatile world: reflections from our Network-Wide Gathering in Slovenia appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Is the Gorenjska region in Slovenia truly zero waste? Call it coincidence or not, Gorenjska has 10 out of Slovenia’s 19 zero waste municipalities. Some were early pioneers of the movement in Europe, others joined only a few years ago. But they all share the same ambition: less waste, healthier environments, and cleaner communities. And […]

The post Is the Gorenjska region in Slovenia truly zero waste? appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Portugal has officially launched its national Deposit Return System (DRS) for beverage containers. The system, known as “Volta”, provides a clear example of how Member States can take concrete action to tackle packaging waste in line with upcoming EU legislation. From 10 April 2026, consumers can return plastic and metal beverage containers of up to […]

The post Portugal launches its Deposit Return System ahead of the new EU packaging rules appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Austria throws away around one million tonnes of edible food every year. The average EU citizen generates roughly 190 kg of packaging waste annually. And somewhere between the landfill and the legislature, a largely volunteer-run Austrian non-profit is working to change both of those numbers – and soon, to bring that mission to the Network […]

The post Inside Zero Waste Austria’s work appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Next week, Zero Waste Belgium will travel to Slovenia for the Network Wide Gathering, where Zero Waste Europe members will come together to exchange about their local work, get inspired by each other, and strategise collectively. Belgium has long presented a paradox in European waste policy. Recycling rates are relatively high, the blue bag system […]

The post Meet Zero Waste Belgium: making reuse a reality appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

It’s time to discover and learn more about the people behind Zero Waste Europe’s work and magic! In this edition of our #MeetTheTeam series, we sat down with Stephanie Yates, our Head of Network & Movement Building, who has been at Zero Waste Europe since March 2022. How did you come to join Zero Waste […]

The post #MeetTheTeam – Stephanie Yates appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

STICT, a two-year project on “Strengthening the Implementation of Circular Textiles Strategies in the EU”, recently celebrated its first year. This project uses a dual approach, focusing on both national transposition of textiles EPR in three Member States (Estonia, Belgium, Slovenia), as well as working locally with three ZWE member organisations in three different municipalities. […]

The post Building a textiles “Sufficien-city”: reflections on diverse municipal contexts from the first year of the STICT project appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

European plastics waste that should be recycled in Europe is being burned, buried or exported instead. Not because recycling is impossible, but because it’s cheaper not to. This is one of the great paradoxes of EU legislation on waste and the circular economy. While there are references to waste hierarchy, proximity principles, and supporting the […]

The post Ensuring European plastics waste is recycled in Europe appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

At the end of March, I had the pleasure of attending the annual Zero Waste Cities conference for municipalities, wonderfully organised by our colleagues in Slovakia, Friends of the Earth – SPZ (FoE – SPZ).  Departing from Brussels, following one night train, two day trains, two buses and a shared car ride with the organisers, […]

The post Insights from the 2026 edition of the Zero Waste Cities conference in Slovakia appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

The International Day of Zero Waste on 30 March (Zero Waste Day for short) holds different meanings for different people – for some, it is a very high-level formalised event, as it was first designated by the United Nations on the initiative of the First Lady of Türkiye. For others, like the Zero Waste Europe […]

The post Zero Waste Day: Your food scraps are heating the climate – here is how to avoid it appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

In early March, Zero Waste Europe brought together over 70 city representatives, solution providers, producers, packaging experts, funders and waste practitioners from all over Europe for a two-day study visit to Denmark. The ‘Reuse in action: a tale of two cities’ visit showed how Copenhagen and Aarhus are already making reuse systems work for businesses […]

The post Denmark is making reuse the norm: learnings from the study visit to Copenhagen and Aarhus appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

During the 11-12 March, I was invited to join a study tour to Sardinia organised as part of the Interreg Euro-MED CirBiowaste project funded by Interreg Europe, where our ZWE members ZERO (Portugal) and ECOREC (Greece) core partners. We were fortunate enough to get to spend 2 days touring the capital Cagliari and neighbouring municipalities, […]

The post How Sardinia uses economics to underpin its collection success appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

In September 2025, a joint project between Zero Waste Europe and behavioural science experts Sapience, was approved for funding from the European Commission and the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). The project, “NAFW – Targeted Nudges to Prevent Food Waste”, is a 2-year initiative focused on identifying effective nudges that can reduce household […]

The post Nudges Against Food Waste: how to turn smart food habits into everyday practice in European households? appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

It’s time to discover and learn more about the people behind Zero Waste Europe’s work and magic! In addition to the ZWE Changemakers series, where you can learn more about our member organisations, we invite you to get a closer look at our staff, what they do, and what inspires them to work for a […]

The post #MeetTheTeam – Ana Oliveira appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Walking through Barangay Potrero in Metro Manila*, you see and experience the narrow but clean streets, small houses, “sari-sari” stores (convenience stores typical of the Philippines). Nearby, a waste workers cooperative takes a leading role in the system – they run a Material Recovery Facility (MRF), organise the local waste separate collection into four fractions […]

The post Solutions from the ground up: reflections from a global convening of zero waste activists appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

This is a conversation I have had with many people in Europe, and the first instinct is always to look at the best performing systems in the Old Continent and see how to extrapolate this approach to other countries. This methodology has been trialled many times, and my experience of decades of work in both […]

The post If you were to design a Deposit Return System (DRS) for the Global South, how would you do it? appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Working no matter what’s happening – this is how the daily operations of Ukrainian waste management companies can be described during the war. Despite severe shortages of funding, time, and staff, they continue to operate under extremely difficult conditions and are still creating change in local waste management systems. As participants in the “Zero Waste […]

The post Creating сhanges despite the crisis: waste management companies in Ukraine appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.