Zero Waste Europe

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

jm — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:30:34 +0000

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 [...]

Zero Waste creates many JOBS!

jm — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:28:00 +0000

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 [...]

Overwhelming support in the EU for plastic bag ban

jm — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:54:49 +0000

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 [...]

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

jm — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:44 +0000

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 [...]

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

jm — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:20:11 +0000

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 [...]

Progress towards Zero Food Waste in the EU

jm — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:51:34 +0000

Almost 50% of edible and healthy food gets wasted in EU households and supermarkets each year while 79 million EU citizens –out of 500 million Europeans- live beneath the poverty line and 16 million depend on food aid from charitable institutions.

Food waste is many times a waste; it is a waste of resources [...]

Reuse of WEEE: widening the cycle of materials

jm — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:37:46 +0000

Giving a second life to products before they are –hopefully- dismantled for safe recycling is the most preferable option. Yet “some” say the demand for second-hand electric and electronic goods is low and it is better to send them to dismantle and get yourself a new one. Think twice! The opposite is true.

In [...]

Gaiakraft: Beyond paper recycling?

jm — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:26:05 +0000

Few years ago paper and cardboard recycling was regarded as a big step in closing the loop of materials, yet what back then was a big improvement now it has the potential of going further. Paper recycling is a no-brainer now but there are new alternatives that are a lot more enviromentally friendly.

Followig [...]

Little Museum of Bad Industrial Design

jm — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:52:45 +0000

Primary school students of Capannori, Italy, set up the Museum of Bad Industrial Design (Piccolo Museo degli orroridi progettazione). A museum of packaging and products that cannot be reused, repaired, recycled or composted and hence have to end up in the dump.

This experience allowed the students to observe their everyday life and pick [...]

Unpackaged: shopping without packaging

jm — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:16:07 +0000

Look at your home waste and you will see that it is mostly packaging. Once you have removed the food waste and paper what is left is mostly single use plastic bottles, cans, trays… Therefore, if you minimise the packaging in your shopping you will be generating less waste. Easy, uh?

Unpackaged is one of [...]