ZERO WASTE EUROPE

This Q&A was developed in the context of a Europe-wide biomonitoring research project on persistent organic pollutants (POP) emissions in possible relation to waste (WtE) incineration. We want to help readers understand what biomonitoring is, what is being measured, and other relevant topics.  What is the biomonitoring of waste incineration emissions? Biomonitoring is the systematic […]

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Founded by the Alliance for Period Supplies, the #PeriodPovertyWeek takes place every year in the last week of May. Its aim? To educate on the issue of period poverty and its impact on people who menstruate. This year, it took place on 23-29 May and, once again, the Break Free From Plastic movement and the […]

The post #PeriodPovertyWeek 2022: success stories from Ukraine and Spain on menstrual equity and sustainability appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Each month, our ZWE Changemakers campaign sheds a spotlight on one of our member organisations. This month, we present Voice, our member in Ireland, which has been active in the environmental sphere for the past 25 years. VOICE continuously advocates for the government and the private sector to adopt environmentally-responsible behaviour, and for the development […]

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Promoters of chemical ‘recycling’ define these new technologies as an enabling factor for a circular plastic economy. However, many uncertainties remain and a growing number of questions are being raised – notably regarding the environmental and health impact of these processes and their outputs.  We will only achieve a truly circular economy if we do not […]

The post Chemical recycling should not undermine the setting of a truly circular economy  appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

ZWE is a recently-joined member of the Single-Use Material Decelerator (SUM’D), a passionate and dedicated team of leading food service companies, NGOs, and technical experts, which is managing the Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard project.  The UP Scorecard is a science-based, free and easy-to-use online tool to help selection of foodware and food packaging that is […]

The post Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard: a tool to analyse packaging’s safety and sustainability appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Zero Waste Europe’s network of 33 organisations supports the zero waste vision across 27 countries, working tirelessly to bring about change on the ground, through policy-work, advocacy campaigns, engagement with stakeholders and capacity building. During the month of May, we take the opportunity to celebrate some (of their many!) achievements from the past year. Despite […]

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Click HERE to register. EU waste law rightly places an emphasis on separate collection of waste in order to facilitate its recycling. For many years, experience with sorting of recyclables of mixed waste proved more or less incapable of delivering materials of the required quality for recycling markets, and this remains true, to a greater […]

The post Register now – “Making The Case for Sorting Recyclables From Residual Waste” online event on 30 May 2022 appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Each month, our ZWE Changemakers campaign sheds a spotlight on one of our member organisations. This month, we present Zero Waste Montenegro. Our member Zero Waste Montenegro is the only NGO in Montenegro with a strong and dedicated focus on waste management issues. It works to facilitate a culture change within Montenegro that will result […]

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For the past 5 years, our Catalonian member Rezero has been campaigning on the dangers and harmful effects of plastics on human health (besides all the harm it does to our environment). This late March, they saw their ambitions become reality through the ban on food packaging chemicals in the Spanish Waste Law. What started […]

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Initial disclaimer on the “ReShaping Plastics” study I participated in the Steering Committee (SC) of the “ReShaping Plastics” study, which was launched on 4 April 2022, and here are some of my thoughts going forward. First off, I would like to clarify that, as stated in the report, participating in the Steering Committee doesn’t mean […]

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Since publishing the European Green Deal in December 2019, the EU is in a modus operandi for a systemic change. The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) adopted a year later, announced that it would help fight toxic chemicals and pollution that is detrimental to both human health and ecosystems. If it fulfills this promise – […]

The post How the EU chemicals strategy can help to make our food packaging toxic-free appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

This month of March marked a massive step towards wider recognition of the zero waste movement outside its immediate networks and sphere of influence.  The exciting news that Zero Waste Europe and the Mission Zero Academy were nominated – by the Plastic Pollution Coalition – for the Earthshot Prize 2022 filled our team (core and […]

The post The world is watching us: ZWE and MiZA nominated for the Earthshot Prize 2022 appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.

Each month, our ZWE Changemakers campaign sheds a spotlight on one of our member organisations. This month, we present Retorna. Our member Retorna is an umbrella organisation, which includes 20 groups in Spain that lobby for a Deposit Return System (DRS), which is able to recover 90% of beverage containers. For the past ten years, […]

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In 1950, 1,5 million tonnes of plastic were produced around the world. In 2019, this was equivalent to the amount of plastic waste exported by the EU to destinations outside its borders. Our reliance on plastic, especially in high-GDP countries, has reached the point where its trade under the form of waste constitutes an economic […]

The post Waste trade: the EU’s so-called “economic opportunity” for receiving countries is a systemic and ethical failure appeared first on Zero Waste Europe.