Breaking the Barriers to Zero Waste: The Role of the Community

Join the UK Zero Waste Alliance to end waste through community action.

 

This conference will bring together people from across the UK to  understand how we can work together to change the way we think about “waste” and to challenge the systems that create it.   Whilst we still need to change our waste habits, it’s hard to zero our waste when many areas don’t have good kerbside collections,  there is a mountain of packaging on our food and wall-to-wall adverts urging us to buy.     Where are the main areas that the community can make a difference?   What works? And how we can make more impact by working together through community action.

 

Zero Waste Alliance UK Conference and AGM, 11.00- 3pm Saturday 10^th November

Greenpeace, Canonbury Villas, Islington, London N1 2PN

The conference will be followed by a short AGM to which all are welcome.

 

Please click here to reserve your free place    http://www.zwallianceuk.org/

 

Speakers from Wastewatch, Bioregional, Cwm Harry, Rubbish Diet, Transition Town Shrewsbury.

READ MORE - Breaking the Barriers to Zero Waste: The Role of the Community

Launch of Zero Waste Romania - Cluj Napoca

During October 19 and 20 an International Zero Waste meeting will take place in Cluj Napoca, Romania. This will be the first event to promote Zero Waste in the country and it aims to bring together national and local stakeholders including activists, waste experts and operators, ecodesign specialists, city planners and architects, public authorities, policy-makers with the participation of international observers.

One of the main objectives of the meeting will be to set up solid grounds for collaboration between all the main stakeholders in order to create long term sustainable change. In this context, the industry must rethink and redesign their products in order to be repaired, reused and/or recycled. Also, local municipalities could ease the implementation of the Zero Waste system through supporting legislation.

Presentations will highlight concepts such as cradle to cradle, circular economy, ecodesign and extended manufacturer responsibility promoting the 5 R’s: Rethink. Redesign. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

For registration please email elena@zerodeseuriromania.ro by October the 12th.

To see the agenda click here

READ MORE - Launch of Zero Waste Romania - Cluj Napoca

The art of Zero Waste!

Waste and art have always gone hand in hand. It was the fantastic artist Leonardo Da Vinci who 500 years ago wrote "there is no such thing as waste" and he knew what he was talking about! Artists have long been using second-hand materials, waste and reused objects to shape their creations.

In this post we want to render hommage to the relationship between artists and waste in yet another demonstration that it doesn't make sense to burn or bury those materials that still can serve a purpose.

[caption id="attachment_1237" align="alignleft" width="450"] Picasso - Bull's head 1943[/caption]



 

READ MORE - The art of Zero Waste!

Florence Zero Waste Altermeeting: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and REDESIGN

The inclusion of the 4 R to the group of the old "big 3” is one of the main conclusions of the Zero Waste Altermeeting that took place in Florence from 15 to 17 September.

 
Indeed, more than 60 speakers of the highest level (including academia, researchers, policy-makers, businesses and activists) agreed that instead of using the best minds to design machines to destroy resources such as incinerators and landfills our efforts should go to Redesign the way our economy works in a way that it is possible to Reduce the size of our waste-bin, Reuse as much as possible and Recycle what is left. The R to Redesign waste out of the system was one of the stars of the gathering.

 
The conference served to present a big number of Zero Waste projects and local solutions to Redesign, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle waste. For instance Claudio Germans CEO of DISMECO explained how in his company they manage to recover up to 98% of the materials in used washing machines and how that has created 30 new jobs. In the services sector the organisation of Zero Waste Hotels in the Island of Capri presented how they have practically phased out waste from their hotels. Also, a number of virtuous municipalities such as Capannori and Monterspertoli presented their successful collection systems. Right now only in Italy 91 municipalities (representing 2,5 million people) have adhered to the Zero Waste goal!

 
Besides Italy, on Monday there were a number of international speakers explaining interesting experiences from around the world. The meeting was a success with the participation of hundreds of people from several different backgrounds and geographical origins during the 3 days of the conference. The message to the city of Florence and to the region of Tuscany was clear: your region is one of the pioneers in Zero Waste in the world with Capannori as first European town to declare the goal of Zero Waste for 2020, follow the example and lead the road to a world without waste No-burn, no-bury there is a better way!

 

For a more in depth report in Italian click here

READ MORE - Florence Zero Waste Altermeeting: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and REDESIGN

Zero Waste Week 2012 in the UK, 3 to 6 September

The Zero Wasters in the UK are celebrating their 5th year of Zero Waste weeks in which many brits pledge to improve their recycling skills and renewe their commitment for a world without waste. So far this this is a solely UK initiative but it would be great to have it in other EU countries. If you are interested in running these kinds of actions elsewhere in Europe contact us and we can help you coordinate!

For the moment feel free to join the initiative from our friends from the UK, happy Zero Waste week!

National Zero Waste Week takes place week beginning 3rd September 2012.

This year’s theme is ‘One More Thing‘ which reminds us that the collective impact of taking baby steps can add up to significant change.

How can I join in?

This year we’re focusing on improving our recycling habits because if every household in the UK recycled ‘one more thing’, the total amount collected for recycling could increase by more than three quarters of a million tonnes.

So decide on your activity and leave a comment below telling us what you pledge to do, then come back during National Zero Waste Week and let us know how you are getting on.

Be sure to bookmark this page! If you have a blog or webpage, please help spread the word by writing about National Zero Waste week – you can grab one of our images below!

If you’re on twitter or facebook, encourage your friends and family to join in too.

FACEBOOK – Join our zero waste facebook page and check out the events page

TWITTER – Use the twitter hashtags #onemorething and #nzww and follow My Zero Waste.

 

What can I pledge to do?

As long as you end up increasing your recycling in order to reduce landfill waste in some way, you can choose anything you like. Here are some ideas:

• Find out what can be recycled at your kerbside and make full use of facilities


• Check your local bring banks to see what you can recycle locally


• Take home fruit peelings and cores to compost at home or set up a compost heap or bokashi bin at work


• Perhaps you’ve noticed battery recycling in your local shop; start using it!


• Take home your recyclables instead of using litter bins when out and about

Keep us updated in the comments section below – let us know what you are doing to improve your your recycling habits and how your actions are inspiring others!

Promote National Zero Waste Week 2012 by putting a click through image in your page

Below are two images that you can easily place in your web page Each image will have a click through to our page here where visitors can read more about the event and participate.



For the above 300x300px image, copy and paste this code into your html page

?

1	<a href="http://myzerowaste.com/zero-waste-week-2012"><img title="Click here for National Zero Waste week 2012" src="http://myzerowaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/nzww-300x300.jpg" alt="Click here for National Zero Waste week 2012" width="300" height="300" /></a>

For the above 468x60px image, copy and paste this code into your html page

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1	<a href="http://myzerowaste.com/zero-waste-week-2012"><img title="Click here

READ MORE - Zero Waste Week 2012 in the UK, 3 to 6 September

Zero Waste Altermeeting in Florence, September 2012

The Italian Zero Waste network & GAIA  is organising a national and international conference in Florence from 15th to 17th of September 2012. The event is organised at the same time as the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) World Solid Waste Meeting in order to send a message to the waste industry to move away from incinerators and landfills and embrace the Zero Waste concept. NO BURN, NO BURY there is a better way!

The goal of this Zero Waste conference is to share the latest best practices from Europe and the world on the 5 Rs; REDUCE, REPAIR, REUSE, RECYCLE & REDESIGN showing that another way to manage waste is possible.

The three days conference will gather more than 50 speakers from Italy and the world and will bring together social movements, policy-makers, waste experts and innovators. To see the draft programme click here.

 

READ MORE - Zero Waste Altermeeting in Florence, September 2012

The first European university to ban bottled water?

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="400"] Ban the bottle campaign in Olympia Campus, Washington[/caption]

In the US and Canada many universities have banned bottled water in their campus. Who will be the first one in Europe?

In 2009 Washington University in Sant Louis became the 1st city to ban bottled water and since then many other campuses have followed the example. In Canada the first campus to ban bottled water has been the University of Winnipeg also in 2009.
Why is banning bottled water important? As a student of Winnipeg , Canada, put it:

Banning bottled water is simply a step in a broader acknowledgment that water is a basic human right, rather than a commodity. Rejecting the commodification of water by refusing to purchase and sell bottled water is a first, and important step. Putting the focus on clean, safe, healthy public water encourages our decision makers to invest strongly in public water infrastructure, and also pushes governments in Canada to extend that infrastructure to Northern communities. As students, we are in a unique situation within our institutions where there is a pool of critical minds, willing to take initiative and leadership on campus. We hope that other campuses across Canada will be willing to take the same initiative, and push back against water as a commodity.

 

[caption id="attachment_1194" align="alignleft" width="233"] Official sign in University of Winnipeg, Canada[/caption]

In contrast to tap water, which is delivered through an energy-efficient infrastructure, bottled water is an incredibly wasteful product. It is usually packaged in single-serving plastic bottles made with fossil fuels. Indeed, milions and milions of tones of European plastic waste are the being disposed of every year. According to the European plastic industry in 2009 45% of the EU plastic was landfilled and 31% was incinerated which means that only a 22% was actually recycled. Increasing the recycling rates it’s important but in the case of bottled water it only makes sense to work on the prevention side. There is a great potential to reduce waste at source by just shifting from bottled to tab water.
There are examples of administrations and schools that have replaced bottled water, even in the European Parliament a group of MEPs demanded to stop the nonsense of providing bottled water in meetings –which causes 160tn of CO2 emissions per year-. However so far no European University has made the step. Any volunteers to follow the north-amercan example? What about the European institutions?

READ MORE - The first European university to ban bottled water?

How to measure sustainability?

[caption id="attachment_1181" align="alignright" width="300"] www.seppo.net[/caption]

Is Zero Waste good for the economy? Sure it is! Does it show in current indicators? Mmm... not always. What’s wrong here?

 

One of the main reasons that can explain the current European economic crisis are something as simple –yet complicated- as indicators. The quest for GDP growth has driven the EU countries through very unsustainable paths. Indeed current indicators give an extra bonus to a throw-away society; for every piece of waste we generate, a new process of extraction, processing, transport, manufacture and disposal is triggered which the increases the economic activity making GDP grow. This explains the obsession for consumption of throw-away goods; the more garbage we produce the better for the economy! But this is true only when measured with traditional indicators. Common sense tell us that producing more waste can not be good for the economy, but according to current indicators it is.

 

For instance, if we stop buying bottled water in single-use packaging and change to tap water or if we start replacing single-use plastic bags for reusable bags we will be reducing economic activity as it is measured with traditional indicators. There is obviously something wrong with our indicators if sustainability features as a minus and not as a plus.

 

In the long run, unsustainable practices end up harming the economy so badly that even traditional indicators such as GDP show it but then it is often too late to act. Climate change is a good example of this; there is scientific consensus that global warming is taking place but too often measures to mitigate it they depress traditional indicators such as GDP growth -despite improving sustainability!-. Another example, home composting captures carbon, builds top soil, saves transport, collection & transport emissions and educates society but from the point of view of GDP incineration of organic waste features better despite vastly increasing CO2 emissions & wasting energy in the collection and burning.

 

There is no discussion on the need to replace or complement GDP as an indicator, the discussion is which indicators to chose: UNEP and the UNU-IHDP presented the Inclusive Wealth Index in June which measures wealth using countries’ natural, manufactured, human and social capital, and which is intended as a replacement to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI). Also the European Commission has been working on indicators in the Beyond GDP, measuring progress, true wealth, and the well-being of nations. Many environmental indicators can be found here. Friends of the Earth also proposes indicators to measure Resource Use.

 

However the EU is still stuck in old and failed ways of measuring economic activity and the current debate on austerity vs growth can’t be more missleading and self-defeating. It is time to replace or strongly balance GDP with a new indicator such as the IWI which takes into account sustainability and natural capital. The moment that takes places Zero Waste will be given a major push and landfills and incinerators will be a bit more buried into history.

 

READ MORE - How to measure sustainability?

Join the 3rd of July International bag-free day!

Can you imagine a Zero Waste world in which we continue to use single-use plastic bags? It is just not possible, right? There are several reasons why we should phase out single-use plastic bags in Europe.

Europeans overwhelmingly support a ban on single-use plastic bags and the European Commission tried to push such a measure during 2012 but it was stopped by the interests of some member states and a part of the industry. Yet another reason to continue asking for such a ban at national and international level.

On July 3rd takes place the  third international Plastic Bag-Free Day organised by GAIA, Zero Waste Europe and the Fundació Prevenció de Residus i Consum.

In Brussels EEB, GAIA and Seas At Risk have issued a Press Release asking the European Commission to ban single-use plastic bags.

What can you do?

Be creative with the way you want to put forward your demands. If you need some inspiration here you have some hints:

If you are an association/organisation:

* Organise a “Your bag or your life” action and  let us know here. We will be compiling the actions taking place all over the world and collect pictures, stories, etc to share with all and we will coordinate a global press release.
* Spread the 3 July Statement, International Day Free Bags
* Refuse to take disposable bags and promote the use of reusable bags: Everyday but especially on July the 3rd!
* Upload the logo of the campaign to your website/blog. See Section Artwork
* Joint press release of July 3 (soon to be published in the Press section).
* Promote the action in your facebook page.
* Organize a workshop for your associates promoting the cloth bag.
* Organise a workshop with children on the topic. Promote it in schools.

If you are a local/regional/national authority

* Make public statement on 3 July Statement
* Approve an ordinance to ban/reduce the use disposable bags
* Upload the logo of the campaign to your website/blog. See Section Artwork
* Tell media to cover events. Promote the action in your facebook page/blog.
* Take a picture of someone important in the institutions taking the plastic bag out of his/her head and use it as a promotion tool.
* Distribute reusable bags to shops and a flyer proposing alternatives to the use of single-use plastic bags.
* Joint press release of July 3.
* Organise a workshop with children on the topic. Promote it in schools.

If you are an individual

*Give your support to the action by signing up this statement. We will be gathering global support in favour of phasing-out plastic bags.

* Get together with your organisation, friends, family, neighbours, etc and organise a “Take the bag out of your head” action. If you do so please let us know here. We will be compiling the actions taking place all over the world and collect pictures, stories, etc to share with all and we will coordinate a global press release.

You can find graphic resources and ideas for your actions here.

You can join the facebook campaign here.

When?

The actions will take place from 1st till 8th of July, however the bag-free day stays on the 3rd of July. Please let us know beforehand if you are planning to organise an action.

Why?

There are many reasons! Here you have some:

http://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/2012/01/overwhelming-support-in-the-eu-for-plastic-bag-ban/

http://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/phasing-out-single-use-plastic-bags/

http://noplasticbags.blogspot.com/

http://culturechange.org/e-letter-plastics.html

http://www.envirosax.com/plastic_bag_facts

Please join this global action and promote it among your friends. Together we can get rid of single-use plastic bags and get closer to Zero Waste!

READ MORE - Join the 3rd of July International bag-free day!

David Andersen Copenhagen; designing waste out of fashion

Waste is a human invention and as such it is up to us to design it out of the system. David Andersen is a good example of how zero waste can be built into a production process and at the same time bring added value to the project.

The Zero Waste philosophy has many applications in the production process and fashion is one of them. Zero Waste & clothes design can be approached from the quality point of view; i.e. better quality + good design = longer lasting clothes which should reduce the shopping frequency and hence reduce also the waste associated clothes production. Good quality fabrics also allow for refurbishment and reuse of clothes to give a second life to garments.

 

Another way to approach Zero Waste & clothes is from the point of view of the design. Most clothes-production processes involve lots of cutting the by-product of it being lots of unused fabric that go to waste. These fabric-rests can and should be reduced to zero and this can be done with good design.

 

David Andersen Design, a successful Copenhagen design label since 2007, has decided to go follow the Zero Waste path. As David Andersen puts it ’’Sustainability is an integrated part of how we work at David Andersen, and has been it for a long time. It is a simply a natural thing for us, to be concerned of the origin, production and maintenance of clothes. It should be a common and decent behavior, and not something new and fashionable.’’

 

Implementing Zero Waste to cloth design means creating a strong garment whilst efficiently utilising the 100% of the fabric used in production. Indeed, the idea is to design in a way that enables to use every single square millimeter of the fabric. It is the virtue of the designer, to create simple designs, so even the thinnest part of the fabric, will be integrated in the final design, thus eliminating waste.

 

’’It is all about minimizing waste already in the design and production phase, and about applying the approach for the next design process. In the end, the final result will signal both a design and social point of view’’ says David Andersen about the design experiment, which will be an integrated part of the designer’s SS 13 collection. The collection will go under the name of zero-waste by David Andersen.

 

With this project and building on smart designs, which are based on the sustainable principles from the beginning, David Andersen aims at creating a new trend within fashion. Unlike the fashion industry, which operates in secrecy, the zero-waste project is open for anyone, who is interested in following and commenting on the project. To follow the project just follow the blog: www.zero-wastebydavidandersen.com

 

READ MORE - David Andersen Copenhagen; designing waste out of fashion

On the Road to Zero Waste: Lessons from around the world

Zero Waste is happening all over the world. To prove it GAIA presented a serie of success stories from around the globe in a Side Event in Rio+20 negotiations.

The publication "On the Road to Zero Waste: Successes and lessons from around the world" compiles 9 examples of how to make Zero Waste happen regardless of the geographical, socio-economical and political context.

It shows that when there is political will there is always a way to reduce waste generation, increase recycling and continue to shrink the fraction that cannot be composted or recycled. There are many reasons for the success of these case studies but what they all have in common is intensive prevention and source separation policies and flexible and decentralised, low-tech waste treatment systems. They are all more cost-effective and generate more employment than systems built around big incineration and landfills.

Here you have some highlights of the studies:

 
• Through incentives and extensive public outreach, San Francisco has reduced its waste to landfill by 77 percent—the highest diversion rate in the United States—and is on track to reach 90 percent by 2020.

 
• A door-to-door collection service operated by a cooperative of almost 2,000 grassroots recyclers in Pune, India, has been integrated into the city’s waste management system and diverts enough waste to avoid 640,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

 

• Aggressive standards and incentives for both individuals and businesses in the Flanders region of Belgium have achieved 73 percent diversion of residential waste, the highest regional rate in Europe.

 

• In Taiwan, community opposition to incineration pushed the government to adopt goals and programs for waste prevention and recycling that were so successful that the quantity of waste decreased significantly even as the population increased and the economy grew.

 

• An anti-incinerator movement in the Spanish province of Gipuzkoa led to the adoption of a door-to-door waste collection service in several small cities that has reduced the amount of waste going to landfills by 80 percent.

 

• In Alaminos, Philippines, a participatory, bottom-up approach proved that communities have the ability to solve their own waste management problems.

 

• In Mumbai, India, and La Pintana, Chile, a focus on organics has produced real value from their largest and most problematic portion of municipal waste.

 

• In Buenos Aires, by organizing into cooperatives and taking collective political action, grassroots recyclers called cartoneros have gotten the city to adopt separation of waste at source, an essential step toward its goal of 75 percent diversion by 2017.

 

The exercise to compile these world best practices will continue in the GAIA website and hence this list is not exhaustive. There are a lot more Zero Waste practices around the world. In Europe there are many communities that are driving the change to a zero waste society and which this website is presenting little by little.

 

To download the publication and learn how these communities managed to change the status-quo and become best practices click here.

 

 

READ MORE - On the Road to Zero Waste: Lessons from around the world

The European Parliament votes in favour of almost Zero Waste for 2020!

Today -24^th May 2012- the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution on a Resource Efficient Europe which, if implemented, could put the EU on the road for Zero Waste for 2020.

 

In this resolution the EP joins the European Commission in expressing the need to bring residual waste close to zero and consequently calls on the European Commission to make proposals by 2014 with a view to gradually introducing a ban on landfill in Europe and for the phasing-out by 2020 of incineration of recyclable and compostable waste (point 33)

 

As you can see in the graph on the left, currently 80% of the municipal solid waste in Europe is recyclable or compostable and if the ecodesign directive is boosted in the way the EP asks for in point 5, it is likely that non-recyclable, non-compostable products by 2020 will be less than 5% of total MSW. Hence, this practically means the end of waste disposal in Europe.

 

It also urges the European Commission to agree by 2013 on clear, robust and measurable indicators for economic activity that can take account of climate change, biodiversity and resource efficiency from a life-cycle perspective. (point 2)

 

This resolution paves the way for radical changes in how waste is managed in Europe but let’s not forget that no legal binding measures have been taken yet. Currently:

- implementation of EU waste legislation is rather poor in most member states,

- the market incentives and subsidies in Europe go to finance incineration and not prevention or recycling,

- energy generation has priority before energy saving (i.e. if you burn paper you get subsidy for renewable energy if you recycle it there is no prime or subsidy),

- it is not compulsory to separately collect biowaste or even guarantee the quality of the compost…

 

So, institutionally now we have all the declarations of intentions on the side of Zero Waste, time to make the EU waste legislation fit for the challenge!

 

 

READ MORE - The European Parliament votes in favour of almost Zero Waste for 2020!

Succesful ZWE congress in Donostia!

Last weekend the Congress of Zero Waste Europe was held in Gipuzkoa. Representatives from all over Europe together with guests from the US and India came together to exchange best practices and define next steps for the Zero Waste movement in Europe.

The event was a success of participation and also media coverage; 30 international representatives from all over Europe, more than 30 mayors, including the mayor of San Sebastian, the top regional authorities including the first councilor of Gipuzkoa and the councilor for the Environment, as well as many local zero waste activists and citizens. All in all, during the 3 days of the event more than 300 people assisted the ZWE congress!

During the event the participants visited succesful experiences such as Usurbil and Hernani, leading separate collection municipalities in the peninsula as acknowledged by the website of the spanish ministry of environment.

The city of San Sebastian welcomed the Zero Waste guests with an open conference in the  City Hall which was filled to the brim to listen to Professor Paul Connett during almost 3 hours.

One full day was devoted to lectures, debates and workshops in which it was discussed how to implement zero waste policies, how to evaluate them and how to bring people together to build a world without waste.

In this occasion there were presentations from the Italian, Catalan and Basque zero waste networks but many new groups expressed interest to start building zero waste networks in their home countries.

The Zero Waste Europe network committed to continue rallying municipalities around the Zero Waste goal, to promote certification of Zero Waste companies in Europe and to motivate the youth to join the movement to free their future from waste.

READ MORE - Succesful ZWE congress in Donostia!

Zero Waste Europe Congress in Gipuzkoa

Program in Euskera click here.

Complete program in English click here.

 

Programme

Friday 10th

Friday morning - visit to Usurbil & Hernani pioneer municipalities in Gipuzkoa in the implementation of door-to-door separate collection with results of more than 85% waste diversion.

19h Open Conference in the Donostia City Hall:

On the road to Zero Waste – a new paradigm in resource and waste management

Dr Paul Connett, Professor Chemistry at St Lawrence University

19h Open Conference in Arrasate - Mancomunidad de Debagoiena: The Zero Waste experience in Europe
Joan Marc Simon, Coordinator Zero Waste Europe

Saturday 11th

Casa de Cultura del Palacio de Aiete (Donostia-San Sebastian)

-          Welcome by the Diputación de Gipuzkoa – Juan Karlos Alduntzin, Diputado de Medio Ambiente Diputación de Gipuzkoa.

-          10 steps to  Zero Waste, a strategy for municipalities – Dr. Paul Connett, Prof. St Lawrence University.

-          Experiences of optimisation of separate collection schemes and maximisation of material recovery and biological stabilisation of residual Waste before landfill - Enzo Favoino, Scuola Agraria del Parco di Monza (SAPM).

-          Presentation of experience of Italian Zero Waste municipalities - Rossano Ercolini, coordinator of Italian network of Zero Waste municipalities.

-          Presentation of experience of Catalan Zero Waste municipality. Josep-Lluís Moner, member of Catalan Zero Waste Strategy.

-          Presentation of experience of municipality in Euskal Herria – Xabier Mikel Errekondo, Member of the Spanish Parliament and former mayor of Usurbil.

-          Building a European network of Zero Waste municipalities – Joan Marc Simon, Coordinator of Zero Waste Europe.

 

Afternoon and Sunday 13th: Internal Congress Zero Waste Europe

 

READ MORE - Zero Waste Europe Congress in Gipuzkoa

The Renewable Energy House in Brussels goes Zero Waste!

The Renewable Energy House (REH) headquarters 20 associations working in Brussels to promote renewable energies in front of the European Union. It currently houses 100 people and it preaches by example running the whole house completely on renewable energies. Now it also decided to be the first office building in Europe to go Zero Waste!

 

The REH knows better than anyone else that waste is, before anything else, a waste of energy.

Recycling vs producing anew from raw materials saves 95% of the energy for aluminium, 70% for paper & cardboard and 30% for glass. Going Zero Waste makes sense from the energetic point of view; the energy –and money!- savings will add to those already implemented in this office building by going renewable. Indeed, it is unlikely that in the short term renewable energies alone will be capable to solve the problems of energy supply in a world with soaring fuel prices, therefore zero waste complements perfectly the renewable energy sector for it saves vast amounts of energy  that otherwise would be required in the extraction, production, transport and disposal process.

       Following a study run by Greenovate! and Novociclo[1] and after auditing waste arisings in the building, a serie of measures were proposed to increase waste diversion –waste that is not sent to disposal to the Brussels inncinerator- to 90%. Among the measures to be applied in the next 3 years will be:

• Replacement of the plastic bottles with glass-jars,


• Sorting the organic waste and composting it in the courtyard,


• Making sure that caterers serve food with reusable non-single use packaging and avoid buying single-use plates, cups or cutlery,


• Maximise paper use –print both sides- and promote not crushing paper (1kg of crushed paper occupies 10-100 times more space than flattened paper),


• Replace the 14 km/year of paper towels currently used in bathrooms with an alternative,


• Reorganising the waste collection points,


• etc

 As a result of this combination of measures the REH should be reducing the amount of residual waste to less than 10% by 2015 whilst reducing the total amount of waste generated and saving money and energy.

 On Tuesday 24th of April, after the presentation of the study and after having agreed on the proposals and targets for 2015 the terms of commitment were signed by the President of the REH, Jan Geiss, the Secretary General of the REH, Kim Vanguers, the director of Greenovate!, Astrid Severin, the President of Novociclo, Rodrigo Sabatini and the coordinator of Zero Waste Europe, Joan Marc Simon.

 

The application of the Zero Waste terms of commitment are now going to be monitored on a yearly basis to make sure that the targets are met and REH can be a certified Zero Waste building by 2015.

 

 The Press Release from REH:

 

The Renewable Energy House (REH) commits to becoming the first Zero Waste Office Building in Europe.

 

Brussels 24^th April 2012. Launch REH Zero Waste Commitment in the REH, Brussels.

 

Today, Zero Waste Europe in conjunction with Greenovate! and Novociclo Ambiental SA and the management structure of the Renewable Energy House, REH asbl, met at the Renewable Energy House in Brussels to sign a joint commitment to Zero Waste by 2015. The REH asbl officially stated its commitment to meeting the basic principles of a Zero Waste company, aiming at avoiding, reducing, reusing and recycling waste.

 

“We’re looking forward to best using this innovative framework and cooperation with specialized actors for making the REH a best-practice example of a Zero Waste Office Building in Europe” said Jan Geiss, REH President and Secretary General of the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources.

 

Greenovate! sprl in collaboration with Novociclo S/A, a Brazilian company specialised in Zero Waste Management, carried out an analysis of the waste generation and disposal at the Renewable Energy House. Zero Waste targets for 2015 as well as an Action Plan to achieve them were based on this analysis.^[2]

 

“I’m eager to implement the first actions towards Zero Waste Management. This commitment marks a new important step for the Renewable Energy House!” said Kim Vanguers, REH Secretary General.

 

By using 100% Renewable Energy Sources for heating, cooling and electricity, the Renewable Energy House has rapidly become a shining and undeniable example of integration of Energy Efficiency measures and Renewable Energy Technologies in a refurbished building since its inauguration by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) in 2006.

 

To achieve the Zero Waste targets by 2015, the REH will integrate the Zero Waste principles in its management practices while raising the awareness of the 100 staff employed by the 20 associations who, interlinking under the REH roof, are the very core of the Renewable Energy House.

 

 

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[1] To see the PWP presentation of the study click here.

[2] Greenovate! Climate Solutions, Belgium and Novociclo, Brazil, “Development of a Zero Waste Management Plan for the Renewable Energy House Brussels, Analysis and recommendation”, Brussels, March 2012.

 

READ MORE - The Renewable Energy House in Brussels goes Zero Waste!

Annual Zero Waste Europe meeting in Gipuzkoa – 11-13th May 2012

The European network of Zero Waste groups will be meeting in Donosti (San Sebastian), spanish Basque country, from 11th to 13th May 2012.

This meeting will bring together activists, waste experts & policy-makers from all over Europe with the participation of observers from outside the continent.

This event will combine site-visits with public events and internal debates.

We will visit the best-practices of Hernani and Usurbil, municipalities who pioneered door-to-door separate collection in the basque country and now collect more than 85% of its waste separately allowing for very high recycling and composting rates.

There will be public conferences with experts in Zero Waste strategies such a Dr Paul Connett, Enzo Favoino or Rossano Ercolini who will share the experience and the details of a Zero Waste with citizens and policy-makers.

And last but not least there will be the meeting of the Zero Waste network in Europe where we will discuss strategy for the next year, approve indicators to measure progress to Zero Waste, present best practices from different local experiences and prepare common cross-border projects.

If you are running a Zero Waste project, if you are interested to know more about Zero Waste, if you want to link to other Zero Waste networks in other countries you are most welcome to join. Places are limited. May you want to participate you can register here. Deadline is April 16th!

To check the programme of the meeting click here.

Organised by:

READ MORE - Annual Zero Waste Europe meeting in Gipuzkoa – 11-13th May 2012

Castelbuono – the town where even donkeys’ walk the Zero Waste path

Creativity is at the core of a Zero Waste strategy. Sometimes this implies creating new processes and using innovative technologies but some other times it just requires combining the existing tools to create a low-tech win-win situation to reduce waste, create occupation, save money and increase sustainability. The example of Castelbuono is a good prove of this.

Castelbuono is a Zero Waste town of 10.000hab in Sicily, Italy, which has managed to develop an innovative system to marry sustainability, social work and economics. The mayor, Mario Cicero, decided to link the recovery of a traditional donkey-breed from Sicily –called Ragusa- with the challenges of the waste collection in narrow streets and the social work to reintegrate people into society... and all of this without scaring off the big number of tourists that visit the fantastic medieval castle or buy local products of this Sicilian town.

This is how Mr Cicero decided to use the donkeys to do the door-to-door separate collection. On one hand it makes donkeys useful so that recovering this breed stops being a cost to become an asset, on the other hand it becomes a way to reintroduce socially excluded people -with mental or addiction problems- thanks to using contact with animals as a therapy –onotherapy- and finally it turns waste collection into a tourist attraction and an education tool. A win-win situation!

Economics for donkeys

Mr Cicero explains how buying a small truck to collect waste costs more than 15,000eur and lasts 5 to 10 years whereas a donkey costs less than one tenth and last longer. Plus the maintenance costs of donkeys are a lot lower and they don’t need oil or electricity to run which makes them more cost efficient in a world of ever rising oil prices.

Besides, donkeys can be useful when they are not working collecting waste; on one hand their milk is considered to be the closest to human milk and hence very much valued. On the other hand onotherapy –therapy with donkeys- is proving wonders on mentally disabled people. Finally from the cultural point of view it makes cost-neutral recovering this important element of Sicilian and Mediterranean culture which is now once again participating in ceremonies and other local festivities.

It is difficult to make a cost-benefit analysis of this practice because it overarches on different fields but the fact is that;

-          money-wise the municipality has balanced accounts in waste collection and treatment,

-          the municipality has less expenses in subsidies to socially excluded people and has very high rates of integration to society,

-          the municipality is recovering an important part of its culture and even creating a tourist attraction at zero cost.

As a comparison; since 2008 –when the system was introduced in Castelbuono- the neighbouring municipality of Cefalú, which is following the “modern” system of waste collection with road-containers and trucks, has generated millions of euros in debts to the regional public waste company whereas Castelbuono is one of the few municipalities in the region with balanced accounts.

Moreover, the region of Sicily has spent 1,5 million euros to reintroduce the Ragusa donkey but is not doing anything with them –it is a net cost-; instead Castelbuono started with 4 and now has 45 of these donkeys which are self-financing themselves.

But even when they are collecting waste donkeys work wonders; tourists in Castelbuono appreciate this silent and gentle creatures and stop to play with them.

The personal story – donkeys help communities

It is impressive to observe how neighbours in Castelbuono know the donkeys by the name and many stop to feed them when they pass by. When we visited them we accompanied one of the workers who does the tour with the donkey “Valentina”. Having had problems with depression & addiction in the past, before the introduction of donkeys he will not show up for work 5 days in a row. Since he started working with Valentina in 2008 he has not missed a single day of work and he has managed to reorganise his life. The bind between him and the animal and the daily contact with neighbours and tourists has managed to bring him back to society.

 

This personal story is just the top of the iceberg of a successful story of integration, education, creativity and sustainability in Castelbuono. Separate waste collection rates in this municipality are higher than in any of the neighbouring towns, they host a composting plant that treats the separately collected organics of the province and they are a proud member of the Italian network of Zero Waste municipalities. Many other ZW municipalities with similar characteristics inside and outside Sicily are studying importing this successful ZW practice.

 

READ MORE - Castelbuono – the town where even donkeys’ walk the Zero Waste path

Zero Waste, a revolution in progress

Paul Connett, one of the Zero Waste gurus, together with the leaders of the Zero Waste network in Italy, Patrizia Lo Sciuto and Rossano Ercolini have just published a book “Rifiuti Zero, una revoluzione in corso-“ (Zero Waste – a revolution in progress).

Since its launch the book has been presented in Naples with the participation of the vice-mayor Tommaso Sodano and later on in Alcamo, Sicily. The book  explains the birth and growth of the movement in Italy and  it also reviews the progress of the movement around the world.

For the moment the book is available only in Italian but an english version will follow soon about the story and progress of the Zero Waste movement around the world.

A paper copy of the book can be ordered here, the electronic version will be available soon.

 

 

READ MORE - Zero Waste, a revolution in progress

Meeting on Zero Waste good practices in Sicily, Italy

The Italian Zero Waste network is organising a public event with politicians, experts and activists on the 24th of March in Alcamo, Italy.

You can find the program of the event here.


 

READ MORE - Meeting on Zero Waste good practices in Sicily, Italy

Zero Waste & Taxes – shift from labour to resource use

How much is your waste worth? Are prices real? Sure you’ve asked yourself how can apples that have travelled 6,000km be cheaper than apples produced 20km away... What about salaries? What does this have to do with waste?

 

Well, waste markets, like any other market follow price signals. If the cheapest option is to landfill or burn waste it should not surprise anyone that recycling doesn't take off. For instance, in countries such as Bulgaria, Portugal or Slovakia the average cost of landfill is below 20eur per ton which is a bad incentive to bother separating waste to recycle it.

Prices are a human convention that serve the purpose of sorting preferences. Therefore when we want to change the reality we can use taxes to get the price incentives change the preferences. This is why many EU countries have put taxes on landfill and incineration in order to make reuse and recycling more economically preferrable.

 

But Zero Waste is not only about waste; it is also about the material cycles. If resources are cheap the incentive to run a throw-away society is higher, if materials are more expensive the incentive go in the direction to build a circular economy. The usual thinking regarding economic incentives is that taxes should be placed on the scarce resources in order to limit its use whereas the abundant resource can remained untaxed. During the last century labour has been scarce whereas resources have been considered abundant and this is why traditionally the former has been taxed and the latter hasn’t. The current economic crisis in Europe shows that we are doing things wrong; as the unemployment statistics show labour is abundant -yet heavily taxed!- whereas resources are not taxed albeit growing increasingly scarce. Isn’t it time to shift taxation from labour to resources?

When that happens we will see an explosion in the reuse and repair market and the cost of materials will force built-in repairability, reusability, durability and recyclability in any product. It will also make the a lot more relevant the Extended Producer Responsibility concept because producers will be a lot more interested in getting the materials back and closing material and energy cycles.

 

In comparison to other world regions, the EU has almost exhausted its resources. The oil-peak took place in 2006 and the energy sources based on fossil fuels are in absolut decline; from now on importing products and resources from the rest of the world will become more and more expensive and the EU needs to prepare for this new economic climate. Waste is increasingly becoming a sign of inneficiency that we can no longer afford.

 

The growing scarcity of materials and fuels is calling for a taxation shift from labour to materials. It would generate employment, probably increase revenues for the state and surely help to redesign the economy and phase-out waste.

In this video below Walter Stahel explains how the new economy needs to move from taxing labour to taxing resources.

READ MORE - Zero Waste & Taxes – shift from labour to resource use

Creation of the association of Italian Zero Waste communities in Capannori, Italy

Last weekend (3-5/02/12) mayors and representatives of Italian Zero Waste municipalities met in Capannori, Italy, to formally create the association of Italian Zero Waste communities.
Despite the difficult weather conditions which made it impossible for some representatives to participate in the event, the turnout was very good and balanced with mayors coming from the northest region of Piemonte to the southest region of Sicily.

Currently 72 municipalities -2,2 million inhabitants- have joined the Zero Waste strategy in Italy. All in all, around 4% of the population of the country are now in the road towards Zero Waste!

The Zero Waste strategy in Italy started in 2007 when Capannori declared the Zero Waste goal for 2020, in this declaration Capannori was committing to:
- Increase the separate collection of waste to 75% for 2015,
- Introduce a fee for the non-recyclable waste –Pay-As-You-Throw system-,
- Create at least one repair & reuse centre,
- Phase out incineration and landfill,
- Prioritise waste prevention with special emphasis on the extended producer responsibility.

Since then, Capannori has not only accomplished these goals -82% separate collection in 2011 and inaugurated the repair & reuse centre and a ZW research centre- but has managed to rally more than 70 other municipalities to create what will be the association of Zero Waste Italian communities.

The event was also attended by organisations, activists and experts which highlighted the social and economic benefits of Zero Waste. A couple of examples of how Zero Waste helps the economy, culture and society as much as it helps the environment;


First experience; the association of hotels of the famous Island of Capri presented their initiatives to radically reduce waste generation in the hotels and hence the tourist sector. In this pilot project 3 hotels have replaced all water plastic bottles –a normal hotel uses 20.000 bottles per year-, all the soap dispensers are now refillable and the newspapers are only available in tablets instead of paper. The waste separate collection rates in Capri are already above 70% but these prevention measures help reduce the disposal costs.

Second experience, the mayor of the municipality of Castelbuono, Sicily, explained about the successful experience of reintroducing donkeys to do the collection in the narrow, steep streets of the old town. Using donkeys is not only cheaper than using trucks, it also helps reintroduce the typical Sicilian endangered breed of Ragusa whose milk –donkey’s milk is the closest to human milk- is known to be beneficial for those who suffer allergy to cow’s milk protein allergy. Because of its energy and its friendly nature these donkeys are also employed in recreational and therapeutic activities as well as traditional events and local feasts.

These kind of best practices were shared during the event in an atmosphere of creativity, cooperation, commitment and inspiration. From now on there will be periodical meetings in order to organise together the better implementation and the expansion of the Zero Waste network in Italy and in Europe.

READ MORE - Creation of the association of Italian Zero Waste communities in Capannori, Italy

Zero Waste creates many JOBS!

One of the strongest points in favour of Zero Waste is the social impact not only on education but also on job creation.
 
In the EU we are approaching the sad figure of 24 million unemployed; in countries such as Spain almost one out of every four is jobless and this figures doubles if we look at youth unemployment. At the same time 86 million tons of waste are being sent to disposal in the EU!

 

The opportunities we are trashing with the current waste policies are just mind-blowing; especially when you think that half of these 86 million tons of household waste are recyclable and the other half represent a mistake of industrial design that needs to be fixed. In both cases there is a huge job opportunity; jobs in waste collection, jobs in reuse centres, jobs in repair shops, jobs in recycling, jobs in composting, jobs in designing better products, jobs in producing high quality products with recycled materials... all of these are jobs that cannot be delocalised and that we are destroying with every tone we send to landfills or incinerators.
 
According to a study by the European Commission 400.000 jobs can be created in Europe only if we implement the current EU waste policies. Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "We need to see waste as a resource – and to bury that resource in the ground is worse than short-sighted. This report shows that waste management and recycling can make a big contribution to economic growth and job creation. And let's not forget that recycled materials are cheaper than virgin ones – and that they reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on imports."

The E. Commission explains how the underlying problem is that too many prices do not reflect the true disposal of goods and that many member states still lack adequate infrastructure. However, one thing the E. Commission always tends to ignore is that waste-to-energy incinerators –currently burning 20% of European household waste- also destroy not only resources but also employment. A study from Greenpeace proved how recycling generates 39 times more jobs than incineration.


 

 

But expereicne shows how those towns/regions implementing Zero Waste, are being able to create a lot more jobs than those claimed by the study of the European Commission. This is because the study considers only implementation of current legislation which for instance has targets of 50% recycling for 2020. The Zero Waste municipalities work well above 70% recycling and since they have extensive policies in repairing, reusing, consumption of sustainable proximity products, etc they are managing to create a lot more jobs than the current traditional waste management strategies.
 
The economic crisis in Europe is setting new priorities for our societies and job creation and sustainable resource management can only be at the core of it. This is exactly what Zero Waste is about; reduce the size of your waste bin, maximise separate collection and recycling, redesign the economy, build resilient social and material systems and channel the public investment into building natural and social capital and not into landfills and incinerators.

READ MORE - Zero Waste creates many JOBS!

Overwhelming support in the EU for plastic bag ban

Over 70% of respondents to a European Commission public consultation have voted in favour of a ban on the distribution of plastic bags. Green groups such as Seas at Risk and EEB say the Commission should now act on this overwhelming support and implement a ban across Europe.

The public consultation was intended to explore options to reduce the use of plastic bags and options to improve the requirements of biodegradability under EU law.

Over 15,500 responses were gathered by the Commission with just over 15,000 replies from EU citizens.

The results of the consultation show that over 70% of respondents agree that a ban on plastic bags across the EU is needed with only 12% agreeing that current requirements on compostability and biodegradability in the Packaging Directive were appropriate.

Chris Carroll of Seas At Risk said: “Plastic bags are a menace to the marine environment and this consultation has shown that European citizens have had enough of them. The Commission must listen to this resounding support for a ban and implement one across Europe as soon as possible. The Commission must also now look at how to reduce the use of other single use and disposable products and packaging that often end up as waste in the marine environment.”

Stephane Arditi of the European Environment Bureau said: “With more than two thirds of respondents supporting a ban of single use plastic bags, a clear signal is being sent to European institutions: it’s time for longer lasting products and for effective legal instruments supporting waste prevention.“

Source: Seas at risk

READ MORE - Overwhelming support in the EU for plastic bag ban

Toxic Europe: How much is the EU doing to fight illegal waste trade – How much can Zero Waste do?

The recently awarded documentary “Toxic Europe” is a good piece of investigative journalism which uncovers a lot of dirty truths about waste management in Europe.
The documentary reveals how at least 225 million tons in the whole of the European Union escape legal treatment –it could be a lot more- and how that is linked to the low prices offered by the illegal dealers which sometimes is 4 to 5 times cheaper than the legal prices.

 

Indeed, the trafficking of waste traficking to internal EU borders or abroad faces lots of challenges; firstly, contrary to normal crimes, there is no interest from the parties to denounce the illegal practices because they all benefit from it. Secondly the waste flows mixed within the trade routs is so big that it is almost impossible to control. According to the documentary the customs of Antwerp, one of the biggest EU harbours, control only 2% of the waste that comes in and 1% of the waste that goes out (!).

 

It is badly needed that the EU takes over the control of its own borders if it is to manage illegal waste trade but once again the EU lacks the resources to do so and the member-states refuse to do so. Without more control at the borders –whose workers are very often are infiltrated by the mafia- the only way to stop waste from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, etc from being shipped abroad is by managing it locally with transparent and traceable systems. And this can only be done if we change our relation with our waste; if we separate it at source and it is properly collected and measured it is very difficult that it can later “disappear”.

 
So we can see how Zero Waste is not about only about sustainability it is also about democracy and rule of law. A Zero Waste strategy makes all waste very visible which makes traceability possible and effectively fights ilegal practices. Whenever waste is not separately collected or the authorities claim that they make waste “disappear” what it means is that it will end up either in an incinerator/landfill or scaping the legal routes..

 

 

READ MORE - Toxic Europe: How much is the EU doing to fight illegal waste trade – How much can Zero Waste do?

A Zero Waste month in Sweden: 4 people = less than 1kg of waste !

How much waste do you generate in one month? Pål Mårtensson is a Zero Waster from Sweden, where he runs the famous Kretsloppsarken reuse and recycle park, who decided to check by himself how much waste does his household of four generate.

 

During one month Pål separated, measured and weighed the different waste fractions and the result has been amazing in many ways: "It was very easy, didn´t smell (careful cleaning) and you got a very good view of your waste when you look att it almost every day and that you take care, handle it not as waste but as resources. Out of almost 60 kg "waste", there were only 0,9 kg I couldn´t handle in a satisfied way (probably goes to burning or bury). I´m very happy that so little is left for the burners, there will be a lack of waste for them if everyone made my example as a habit." says Pål.

Want to check the detail?

Item dec 5-12-2011 - 3-1-2012

Paper (kg) 4,3 Recycle
Plastic (kg) 5,3 Recycle
Glas (kg/pcs) 7,9 23 Recycle
Pet (pcs) 1,3 22 Deposit
Cans (pcs) 0,8 7 Deposit
Metall (kg/pcs) 1,4 23 Recycle
Food -mostly peels, cores, coffee/tea grounds, bones, flowers...- (kg) 20,5 Compost
Commercials(kg) 3,6 paper Recycle
Newspaper(kg) 2,1 Recycle
Magazines(kg) 0,3 Recycle
Old tea(lit.) 5,9 Drain
Old coffee (lit) 2,1 Drain
Bulb (pcs) 0,1 1 Recycled
Textile (kg) 1,4 Reuse
Envelopes (kg) 0,2 Recycle/Burning
Electronic (kg) 1,2 Recycle
Rest/leftover(kg) 0,9
Burning/Bury(0,9kg rest/leftover) (candles, dishcloth, strings, tampongs,glossy paper)
59,3 kg "waste" total in one month

Therefore for a household of 4 pers and a period of one month including Christmas and New Year Pål's family has generated 60kg. 15kg per person in average where the part that could not be composted, reused or recycled was only of 1,6%!!

If we look at the Eurostat statistics for Sweden we see that in 2009 Sweden was burning 49% of its waste and landfilling 1%. This means that the average Swede generates around 40 times more waste than Pål or that most of what the Swedish waste management system is burning is actually recyclable. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle...

Of course, the experience mentioned above is not representative (besides being only one example, Pål's family generates 180kg per person/per year when the Swedish average is 480kg) but it does show the possibilities to live in a more sustainable way and how if all Swedes would follow Pål's example could afford to close down all incinerators and radically increase recycling and composting.

There are Zero Waste experiences around Europe that confirm that what Pål has done can be repeated and it shows that, after all, it is up to us to make Zero Waste possible!

READ MORE - A Zero Waste month in Sweden: 4 people = less than 1kg of waste !