The second annual International Day of Zero Waste highlights both the critical need to bolster waste management globally and the importance of sustainable production and consumption practices. It celebrates zero-waste initiatives at all levels, which contribute to the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Take part in the Zero Waste Day webinar “Transitioning to zero waste - Perspectives from along the plastics value chain”
1er april 2025. This webinar hosted by the BRS secretariat will be introduced by Rolph Payet, General Secretary of the BRS Conventions and by UNEP, followed by a roundtable discussion on the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders along the plastics value chain in the transition to Zero waste.
By “Zero Waste” we mean, reducing volumes as much as possible, safely valorising what could not be avoided, and ensuring an environmentally sound disposal or “final sink” of what could not be avoided nor safely valorized.
The Round table moderated by Corinne Trommsdorff executive director of the FSWP, will feature Decathlon as a retailer and manufacturer, ICLEI representing cities and local government in charge of waste management, theInternational Alliance of Waste Pickers who will share on the role of informal recycling, and ISWA on the importance of knowledge exchange within the international community to best address these global issues, but also find inspiration through what others do.
FSWP Position
It is urgent to rethink the production-consumption couple to undertake, in line with SDG12, a “Do more and better with less” approach based on the 10Rs principle. The associated transformation of the production-consumption system , would not only address the climate crisis, but the triple planetary crisis:
- Refuse: avoid producing and buying unnecessary products;
- Rethink: questioning the potential environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle before producing or consuming;
- Reduce: minimising resource use and developing more efficient consumption patterns;
- Reuse: reusing products for a second purpose - moving away from an industry based on resource extraction, and from an economy based on planned obsolescence;
- Repair: working against the culture of throwing away, both for consumers, and for producers, especially by designing the products that can easily be repaired;
- Refurbish: restoring and modernising an old object to make it as new as possible again, by changing some parts and pieces;
- Remanufacture: completely rebuilding an object for refurbishing;
- Repurpose: redefine a new destination for the object - creatively finding new uses for items that might otherwise be discarded, thus turning potential waste into a resource.
These first 8Rs are meant to generate less waste upstream, via decreased consumption, extended product lifecycle, and by giving a new use or life to old products. The private sector is key in making this transition happen to reduce waste volumes that need to be managed and to reduce emissions associated with the production of goods. The last 2Rs, “Recycle” and “Recover” energy, are part of the waste management system and further emphasise the importance of valorising all existing products to decrease the amount of resource extraction.
During International Day of Zero Waste, Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, civil society, the private sector, academia, youth and other stakeholders are invited to engage in activities aimed at raising awareness of national, subnational, regional and local zero-waste initiatives and their contribution to achieving sustainable development. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) jointly facilitate the observance of International Day of Zero Waste.
More informations on the UN website.
