The Zero Waste Campaign Coordinator for Friends of the Earth Malta attended this year’s Zero Waste Europe annual meeting in Montenegro this month. About 60 people from all over Europe and one from the United States/Canada chapter of GAIA gathered to discuss the programs being put in place to reduce waste going to landfills and incinerators. Zero Waste Europe has assisted 20 cities in becoming Zero Waste Cities across Europe, and there are 34 candidate cities working their way towards the same goals. Cities can become zero waste to landfill/incinerator by measures such as doing proper waste separation, recycling and composting, using biodegradable food and beverage containers for public events, establishing reuse centers, and implementing policies such as pay-as-you-throw for mixed waste. See more here.

A highlight of the meeting was awarding the Central Bank of Montenegro as a Zero Waste Business. The bank is beginning efforts to offer separate waste collection, prohibiting sale of plastic bottles in their offices, printing on both sides of paper, and conducting employee education. Their example shows that given strong leadership, positive changes can realistically be made even within large institutions.

Some other highlights of the gathering:

• Learning about Krk, the first zero waste island in Croatia (See more here). 
• Hearing about campaigns to reduce textile waste in Ireland by awareness around countering fast fashion by pressuring companies to not produce collections every few weeks. They also focus on encouraging clothing reuse and thrifting, as technology is still not easily able to recycle fabrics that are mixed blends of materials.
• We discussed the idea of Extended Product Responsibility (EPR) for product take-back, such as for tyres for recycling, and wine bottles for reuse.
• Discussions on health and how it relates to the issues of waste – for example toxic microplastics and PFAS fire retardant chemicals in food packaging, and pollution created by incinerators. In recent years, residents inhabiting some areas surrounding incinerators in France were told not to eat eggs and produce due to high levels of dioxins and other contaminants in the soil.
• The City of Kiel, Germany is attempting to address food waste from cruise ships.

During the meeting, each organization created a poster to display their specific initiatives. Some specific campaigns also being worked on include addressing ghost fishing nets that get abandoned in the sea and end up killing marine life, and also finding alternatives to plastic e-cigarette filters which are becoming an increasing source of plastic pollution, especially from the disposable ones that are only used for a limited period. 

As of right now, Malta does not have any Zero Waste Certified Municipalities nor businesses, so those interested would be the first. If your business or locality is interested to pursue certification, please contact our Zero Waste Campaign Coordinator, who is a trained mentor. For those interested in this topic of achieving zero waste in general, please see the Zero Waste Europe website for numerous factsheets and resources.