Ljubljana; first EU capital to adopt a Zero Waste strategy. The Slovenian capital and three other municipalities, Vrhnika, Borovnica and Log Dragomer join the European network of Zero Waste municipalities September 8, 2014 The mayor of Ljubljana, Mr. Zoran Janković announced today the commitment of his city to move towards Zero Waste. In a press conference which took place in the Town Hall of the Slovenian capital the mayor of Ljubljana together with the mayor of Vrhnika, Stojan Jakin, the president of Zero Waste Europe, Rossano Ercolini and the chair of the Scientific Committee of ZWE, Enzo Favoino, confirmed the adhesion of Ljubljana and three other municipalities to the European network of Zero Waste communities.
With this move Ljubljana becomes the first capital in the EU to adopt the Zero Waste goal. Mr Janković, Mayor of Ljubljana said “In August residents of Ljubljana separately collected over 60% of their waste. “Zero Waste Europe welcomes Ljubljana as the 1st Eu capital to go for Zero Waste, surely it won’t be the last one.” European Commission Produces Much-Anticipated Circular Economy Package | Zero Waste Scotland. The newly-announced package, dubbed ‘closing the loop’ is aimed at benefitting both the environment and the economy and contains common EU recycling targets of 65% municipal waste by 2030 and plans to develop quality standards for secondary raw materials, revised regulation on fertilisers to boost bio-organics and a Europe-wide strategy for plastics as well as actions to reduce food waste.
A statement from the commission promised: "This is a new, more comprehensive and ambitious plan that Commissioners are presenting. The agenda is essential for our economy, for jobs in the future, for our environment - for sustainability on all levels. “The future is not in low-wage production, the future is not in making things with finite components. The future is providing services to the citizens in a long-term process. “The Circular Economy, if designed right, can enable economic, environmental and social gains - a triple win! The package was generally welcomed by the Scottish Government. Moving towards a circular economy - Environment. 2018 Circular Economy Package As part of its continuous effort to transform Europe's economy into a more sustainable one and to implement the ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan, in January 2018 the European Commission adopted a new set of measures, including: 2018 Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference Two years after the adoption of EU Circular Economy Action Plan, more than half of the initiatives foreseen in the Plan have been delivered.
To discuss the measures included in the 2018 Circular Economy Package, explore new areas of action, and share the first achievements of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, the Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee will host the 2018 edition of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference on 20-21 February in Brussels. You can find more information and register to the Conference here. Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform More information: More information: Past events. No landfill, no incineration: municipalities commit to zero waste - Eco-innovation Action Plan. Zero Waste Europe promotes infrastructural change in local waste management. It calls for waste prevention to be implemented in local plans, adoption by municipalities of waste separation so that waste streams are sorted at source, and for residual waste to be progressively reduced. For the latter to be achieved, according to Zero Waste Europe, “residual waste should be constantly studied in screening facilities so that kerbside schemes and reduction programmes [can] be further implemented, and non-recoverable products can be redesigned or removed from the market.”
So far, the zero waste approach has taken off most strongly in Italy and Spain, where dozens of municipalities have signed up. The pioneering zero-waste champion is Capannori in Tuscany, a town of about 47,000 inhabitants. It is no coincidence that Capannori is at the forefront of Zero Waste Europe's efforts. Carlsberg Group - Carlsberg chairman presents prototype of bio-degradable bottle at “Folkemødet 2015” The Green Fiber Bottle prototype revealed today still looks and feels very different from what the final product will be, but does give an idea of what the future of beer bottles could be. Today, at politics festival, “Folkemødet 2015”, the Carlsberg Foundation hosted a debate on circular economy and the possibilities for Denmark to become a leading nation in sustainability. Topics of the debate covered topics such as “how do we define what is sustainable?”
And “what is the role of the state?” A central item of the debate was Carlsberg’s plans to develop the world’s first fully bio-degradable and bio-based beer bottle. Made from impulse-dried wood fibers, the “Green Fiber Bottle” is a groundbreaking innovation and currently under development in a partnership between Carlsberg Group and partners ecoXpac, Technical University of Denmark and Innovation Fund Denmark. The project commenced in January 2015 and it is expected to take three years to develop the final product. Zero Waste. Zero Waste Europe (@zerowasteeurope) | Twitter... Zero Waste Europe - Empowering Our Communities To Redesign. Approach Zero Waste Alliance. While the ZWA can provide support in many capacities, its most effective role is in assisting businesses and organizations through a process of change in pathways and systems.
Businesses that engage in new strategies typically follow the process outlined in Figure 1. Figure 1. The process by which businesses develop and implement new strategies. This change process usually takes an organization 12 to 24 months. The Zero Waste Alliance provides the following four categories of support to business as they move through the process and develop and implement strategies that improve their competitiveness, morale and environmental performance: Awareness Education Assessment and Strategy Development Implementation, Setting and Reaching Goals Reviewing and Reporting Zero Waste Alliance personnel and alliance members provide assistance to organizations as they go through this process of change.
Top of page Awareness Education Assessment and Strategy Development Reviewing and Reporting. About Zero Waste Edinburgh and Midlothian. You are here: Home » About us Zero Waste: Edinburgh and Midlothian is a major joint-project between the City of Edinburgh Council and Midlothian Council to deliver, through private sector partners, dedicated facilities for the treatment of the food and residual waste collected in Edinburgh and Midlothian. Zero Waste will achieve: increased recycling of Edinburgh and Midlothian's waste less waste sent to landfill a secure, long-term solution at a competitive price renewable heat and electricity for the local area future additional benefits through a Zero Waste Parc Reducing waste to landfill Under the Zero Waste Plan, the Scottish Government has set a target for no more than 5 per cent of waste being sent to landfill by 2025.
At the moment we send about two thirds of our household waste to landfill. Zero Waste structure The City of Edinburgh Council and Midlothian Council are working together to deliver Zero Waste for Edinburgh and Midlothian. Zero Waste Plan. MDE has drafted an ambitious 25-year plan to nearly eliminate the inefficient disposal of solid waste and wastewater in Maryland. The Zero Waste plan centers on a number of progressive waste reduction, reuse, recycling and energy recovery goals, and policy reforms. As part of its legislatively-mandated Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, the State has established long-term 2040 recycling and waste diversion goals of 80% and 85%, respectively, along with interim targets.
Planned actions include: enhanced waste management reporting; new source reduction requirements; augmented composting, recycling and reuse guidance and mandates; clean energy recovery incentives; expanded materials and process bans; numerous government lead-by-example initiatives; and market and job creation inducements. Please click here to review the Plan. Contact Us Contact us at zerowaste.mde@maryland.gov. Additional Resources. Progress Report - City of Palo Alto. Our community is working hard toward its goal of Zero Waste (virtually no waste burned or buried) by 2021. All sectors of our community – residents, schools, businesses and nonprofits – have taken action to help. We’re all reducing our impact on the environment and paving the way for a Zero Waste future.
This section provides information to keep you up to date on our community’s progress and perhaps even help you find more ways to join in the effort. Quicklinks How Are We Doing? Waste Composition How Is My Neighborhood Doing? In 2013 our: Diversion rate was 78% Residents disposed an average of 3.9 pounds of solid waste per person per day (Californians averaged 4.4 pppd) Our numbers have changed little from 2012. While participation in our recycling and composting programs is crucial to reducing our waste, it’s even better to prevent waste from being created in the first place. What's in your garbage? A new waste composition study was done for Palo Alto in 2013.
Return to top of page. Zero Waste Scotland. GAIA : On the Road to Zero Waste: Successes and Lessons from Around the World. On the Road to Zero Waste: Successes and Lessons from Around the World Zero waste is both a goal and a plan of action. The goal is to ensure resource recovery and protect scarce natural resources by ending waste disposal in incinerators, dumps, and landfills. The plan encompasses waste reduction, composting, recycling and reuse, changes in consumption habits, and industrial redesign. But just as importantly, zero waste is a revolution in the relationship between waste and people.
This set of zero waste case studies profiles nine diverse communities, each providing a real-world example of authentic progress toward the goal of zero waste. To download individual case studies, visit here. And check out GAIA's blog, Zero Waste World! For more information about zero waste, visit www.no-burn.org/zerowaste. A comprehensive review of the development of zero waste management: lessons learned and guidelines. C2C Framework - McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) Cradle to Cradle: Beyond Sustainability Our work is grounded in the Cradle to Cradle® philosophy developed by our founders, designer William McDonough and chemist Dr. Michael Braungart in their 2002 book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (North Point Press).
Cradle to Cradle encourages us to step back from the routines of daily problem-solving and rethink the frame conditions that shape our designs. Rather than seeking to minimize the harm we inflict, Cradle to Cradle reframes design as a beneficial, regenerative force—one that seeks to create ecological footprints to delight in, not lament. The Cradle to Cradle framework is fundamentally about constantly improving and moving from simply being “less bad” to becoming “more good.” Learn more about MBDC’s work helping companies apply these principles and work towards a “beneficial footprint” using eco-effective strategies.
-Download MBDC Brochure -Download MBDC Services Brochure (2 page summary) -Visit MBDC’s Services page. Cradle-to-cradle design. Cradle to Cradle design (also referred to as Cradle to Cradle, C2C, cradle 2 cradle, or regenerative design) is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems. It models human industry on nature's processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. It suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature's biological metabolism while also maintaining a safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-quality use and circulation of organic and technical nutrients.[1] Put simply, it is a holistic economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not only efficient but also essentially waste free.[2] The model in its broadest sense is not limited to industrial design and manufacturing; it can be applied to many aspects of human civilization such as urban environments, buildings, economics and social systems.
Introduction[edit] Biological and Technical Cycles Biological and technical cycle Health[edit] Our Throw-Away Society | Upstream. The way we currently design, produce, use, and dispose of most of our products and packaging is through a linear “cradle to grave” process – what Story of Stuff creator, Annie Leonard, refers to as the “Take, Make, Waste” system of industrial production and consumption. A hundred years ago, we predominantly discarded food scraps and coal ash. Most products were made from natural materials like paper, cloth, leather, metal and wood and most were reused or recycled at the end of their useful life. Today things are different. Products and packaging comprise 71% of the U.S. solid waste stream with packaging accounting for 30%.¹ We make our products from natural resources such as trees, minerals, natural gas, and oil.
We mine, clear-cut, and drill these resources to make products and packaging, and that disrupts the environment and destroys ecosystems. Today’s “Cradle-to-Grave – Take, Make, Waste” System Rising waste and stagnant recycling rates Toxic and disposable by design Throwing jobs away. Caroline Spelman calls for 'zero-waste' society to end landfill | Environment. Throwing rubbish such as drinks cans and leftover food into landfill wastes money and should not continue, the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, said today.
Announcing a new government review of England's waste strategy, Spelman said putting recyclable and biodegradable rubbish in the ground threatened the environment and wasted valuable natural resources. She said there was a need to go further and faster in boosting recycling rates in England, and that driving forward a "zero-waste society" would save money and create green jobs and industry. Among the issues the review will look at are more facilities for processing recyclable rubbish in the UK – rather than sending it abroad – and providing clearer labelling of what can be recycled. The wholesale review of waste policies comes after the new government announced it was scrapping Labour's "pay as you throw" pilot to cut waste, which allowed councils to reward households that reduced waste and penalised those who threw away more.
Is A Zero-Waste Society Possible? Consider the extraordinary efforts we undertake to secure a barrel of oil. Lives lost from wars. Oil-rig blowouts. Cancer clusters downwind of refineries. 100,000 premature deaths each year in America alone when we combust the stuff in our engines. Consider the 28 million tons of plastic waste we send to landfills each year, essentially re-burying the oil in the earth, but this time in places that make it virtually impossible to recover. Then we repeat the process over and over again. What if we could mitigate at least some of this madness by putting those waste plastics to productive uses?
In 1989, California passed a law that mandated diversion of 50% of solid waste away from landfills by 2000. Around the world, communities, governments, and companies are beginning to dip a toe in the waters of the zero-waste movement and the surprising results are that new technologies, businesses, and jobs are being created. Electronic waste is another category of opportunity. Zero Waste? – Zero Waste Europe. The Aztecs of Mexico: A Zero Waste Society. Case for Zero Waste. A World without Waste? Zero waste.