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Introducing the principles of Zero Waste in
municipalities and public cleanliness
November 28th 2019 – Rencontres Européennes de la propreté urbaine 2019
#ZeroWasteCities
#ZeroWaste
Pierre Condamine – Waste Policy Officer
Zero Waste Europe
Support NGOs, local groups and
communities
Change European Policies
Mentor cities towards a Zero
Waste transition
Zero Waste Europe
Support NGOs, local groups and
communities
Change European Policies
Mentor cities towards a Zero
Waste transition
Zero Waste Europe
Support NGOs, local groups and
communities
Change European Policies
Mentor cities towards a Zero
Waste transition
The Zero Waste Cities programme
• Nearly 400 municipalities engaged to develop Zero Waste Strategies in Europe
• A network of local and national contact points via the Zero Waste Europe Members
• Similar programmes running in Asia Pacific, LATAM, USA/Canada, Africa (GAIA network)
The Zero Waste Cities approach
A continous effort to phase out waste– not by burning or landfilling it – but instead by creating and implementing systems that do not
generate waste in the first place.
“If a product can’t be
reused, repaired,
refurbished, recycled or
composted it it needs to
be redesigned or taken
out of the system”
The Zero Waste Cities approach
“Zero Waste communities are the living examples of Circular Economy and its viability
and environmental, economic, occupational benefits”
Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
A basic ZW work programme
• Kerbside collection – include the organics!
• Waste prevention practices at local level:
- Home composting
- Packaging free-shops
- Reusable nappies systems….
• Reuse centres and activities
• Pay-as-you-throw
• Check composition of residual waste
A few examples…
➔Salacea, Romania (3000 inhabitants)
From 3% (only plastics + metals) to 60% separate collection!
A few examples…
➔Slovenia and Ljubljana (250,000 inhabitants)
First European capital to commit to Zero Waste!
A few examples…
➔Slovenia and Ljubljana (250,000 inhabitants)
First European capital to commit to Zero Waste!
How to start?
• Formal ZW Commitment
• Firm and verifiable operational steps
• Commitment to keep improving
Berkeley single-use plastic ordinance
• Berkeley Single Use
Foodware and Litter
Reduction Ordinance
• Adopted in March 2019
• Reduce the use of
disposable foodware
contributing to street littering
and marine pollution
ReCircle
The issue
- Takeaway food is booming
- This type of consumption generates a lot of
packaging
The solution
- Implementing a reuse system for takeaway
containers
- Deposit-return system
How does it work?
- Containers are made to be washed around
a 100 times
- Customers pay a deposit
- Restaurants save around 500e/year
- Public littering costs for municipalities are
reduced
After 2 years, more than 400 Swiss restaurants
used 70,000 reusable containers from ReCircle!
ReCircle
Freiburgcup
The issue
- Single-use takeaway cup are
more and more used
- The waste management company
could not recycle the cups and
ask the city to find a solution
The solution
- Setup a reuse system for reusable
beverage cups
- Voluntary
How does it work?
- Cheap design yet durable
- The waste management company
gives the cups for free to restaurant
and coffees willing to use it
- Voluntary for users
- 1e deposit that one gets back when
giving back the cup
Today, 60-70% coffee shops and restaurants in
Freiburg are using the cup which drastically
reduced the quantity of disposable cups.
Freiburgcup
Specific focus on touristic areas
The case of Bled (ZW city)
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Specific focus on touristic areas
The case of Bled (ZW City)
• Started in 2015
• +100 new bins
• Internal training
• After 2 seasons,
-57% of residual
waste
Other measures…
• Extended Producer Responsibility covering littering costs (Single-Use Plastics and Waste Framework Directives)
• Setup of a nation-wide deposit-return scheme
• Communication and budget to waste sorting in public spaces
• Link waste management competency and public cleanliness competency
• Zero waste events guidelines
• …
San FranciscoWe can't solve problems by using the
same kind of thinking we used when we
created them.-Albert Einstein
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Thank you for your attention!
#ZeroWasteCities
#ZeroWaste
@zerowasteeurope
@PierreCondamine – [email protected]
November 28th 2019 – Pierre Condamine – Rencontres Européennes de la propreté urbaine 2019