ZERO WASTE EUROPE

On using materials strategically and rethinking consumption in Europe Waste generation in Europe has remained stable over the past decades. Despite years of recycling targets and environmental legislation, the total volume of waste produced across the EU has only decreased very slightly by 0.5% between 2010 and 2022 and reached 5 tonnes per capita in […]

The post Why is sufficiency the way forward to tackle the waste crisis? appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

As Europe prepares to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles, an important question remains: will EPR be enough to tackle the growing textile waste crisis? This question was at the centre of the international conference “Will Extended Producer Responsibility Be Enough?”, organised by Ekologi brez meja (Ecologists Without Borders) and Zero Waste Europe […]

The post Starting with textiles: is Extended Producer Responsibility enough? appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Between April-June this year, ZWE welcomed a new intern student with the team in Brussels, Milagros Carrera. This was funded and part of an Erasmus+ internship offer. In this blog, Milagros shares some of her reflections and experiences of being part of our team here in Brussels for 3 months.  We start with an English […]

The post Tupananchiskama – A journey from Lima to Brussels and back again appeared first on 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 […]

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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.