By Friends of the Earth Zero Waste Campaign Coordinator Beth Fiteni
I had the opportunity to attend the Zero Waste Festival in Barcelona organized by Zero waste Europe, where about 100 people gathered to learn and share success stories about reducing waste going to landfills or incinerators. Zero waste means reducing overall waste where possible, by choosing biodegradable or durable, reusable items. I learned the Europeans create about 500kg of waste per person annually, and that for example, our smart phones contain about half the periodic table of elements, all which require mining/extraction. We learned about fast fashion and that we have enough clothing on earth to clothe us through 2100 without producing more, and that since the system to recycle textiles is far less than perfect, the most sustainable thing to do is to reuse/repair existing clothing. France is considering banning ads for fast fashion brands. And, Waste reduction ties closely to the issues of toxins because for example, if textiles, food packaging and electronics are contaminated with PFAS, we do not want these chemicals recycling in our systems perpetually- so we must eliminate them.
So what can we do? Some proposed solutions are of course to separate waste properly so each stream can be optimally managed. National and regional governments can play a big role in incentivizing this transition by providing the infrastructure and door-to door pickups to facilitate this. They can also to institute EPR- extended producer responsibility- schemes whereby producers of packaging or other products that become waste must take back these items and manage them properly, so that the burden is not on consumers and local municipalities to handle it all. I learned that there are two zero waste islands in Europe- in Greece and Croatia – where only biodegradable, recyclables, or reusable items are sold, and in Brussels and other cities there are reusable nappy services provided to keep diapers out of the landfill.
This conference walked its talk: One “organic” bin was the only “waste” receptacle available – everyone brought their own containers and used water refill stations. One of the most interesting things I saw was a company called Re-Uz that created a machine suitable for events whereby you get a standard reusable plate for a €2 deposit and can return it into this machine just like we do with plastic bottles and get your deposit back. I also saw a fashionable jacket made out of shoes.
There are many things we can do, and the first thing starts with shifting our mindset about what is waste—much “waste” is a resource so it’s a matter of being smarter about using what we have.
👉 Organised by Zero Waste Europe : https://zerowasteeurope.eu/