The European Week for Waste Reduction 2014:
almost 12.000 actions to reduce, reuse, and recycle
Brussels, 21 November 2014
After five years of successful implementation, the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) returns for its annual appointment with another intensive week of awareness-raising events. From 22 to 30 November 2014, around 12.000 actions1 related to waste reduction, products reuse and materials recycling, as well as Clean-Ups, will take place in 28 countries.
The EWWR actions aim at increasing awareness on resource efficiency and circular economy. The objective is to change the behaviour of European citizens regarding their consumption patterns and waste habits; promoting waste reduction, repairing and reusing of products as well as waste sorting and recycling, in particular in countries where sorting and recycling rates are still low.
The 6th edition of the EWWR 2014 is a federative project and benefits from wide political support. In particular, it will take place under the patronage of Mr Karmenu Vella - European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries - and Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis - European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.
Waste prevention holds a strong place in the EWWR, as it makes more sense to avoid waste or to reduce it at the source than having to deal with it after it has ended up in our garbage bins. To highlight this, Prevention Thematic Days will be implemented during the EWWR. The Prevention Thematic Days 2014 focus on the issue of Food Waste, which represents a substantial loss of resources such as land, water, energy and labour. During the EWWR, a high number of actions will address food waste prevention through cooking lessons, workshops on smart shopping and food storage, including extensive awareness-raising campaign in restaurants and other activities all over Europe!
Reduce, reuse, recycle: it is time to take action, and every action counts!
The EWWR in context: too much waste
Launched in 2009, the EWWR originally focused on raising awareness of waste prevention, the highest priority stated in the European waste management hierarchy. Over the five past editions, the EWWR has seen a growing success in Europe (and beyond), and created a network of public and private actors actively involved in the field of waste prevention. Not only associations, public authorities, educational establishments and Businesses, but also individual citizens will implement actions during the EWWR: this shows the increasing interest in how to reduce the amount of waste we put in our garbage bins every day.
Despite this, on average, a European citizen throws away nearly 500 kg of waste yearly, while recycling less than half of it - and in some countries almost none of it2. More efforts are needed, in particular to change people's habits at home, at the office, or when shopping, for instance. Taking advantage of its past success, the EWWR has proposed new features to help communicate on the 3Rs: Reduce waste, Reuse products, Recycle materials. In particular, the EWWR has developed new communication tools targeting specific audiences: public administrations and associations, businesses, schools, and individual citizens. Moreover, to catch the attention of Europeans on one of the ugliest sides of waste, European clean-up days will be implemented on 8-10 May 2015. The initiative, called "Let's Clean Up Europe", will call on volunteers to pick-up waste littered in nature, for instance on beaches, in forests and other areas.
The EWWR partnership
With the support of the LIFE+ programme from the European Commission, the EWWR project includes the following partners: ACR+ (Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Waste Management - European project coordinator), Brussels Environment (Belgium), the Catalan Waste Agency (Spain), the Environment communication association AICA (Italy), and the Hungarian Waste Agency (Hungary). In 2014, the European Week for Waste Reduction will be implemented under the coordination of 34 national or regional coordinators, public administrations - or bodies acting on their behalf - in 28 countries.
1. The final number of registered actions, as of 20 November 2014, is 11.992
2. According to Eurostat, 492 kg of waste was generated per inhabitant in the EU28 in 2011, with only 42% of it were recycled or composted, with still many countries landfilling more than 80% of their municipal waste. Source: Eurostat
The EWWR actions aim at increasing awareness on resource efficiency and circular economy. The objective is to change the behaviour of European citizens regarding their consumption patterns and waste habits; promoting waste reduction, repairing and reusing of products as well as waste sorting and recycling, in particular in countries where sorting and recycling rates are still low.
The 6th edition of the EWWR 2014 is a federative project and benefits from wide political support. In particular, it will take place under the patronage of Mr Karmenu Vella - European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries - and Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis - European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.
Waste prevention holds a strong place in the EWWR, as it makes more sense to avoid waste or to reduce it at the source than having to deal with it after it has ended up in our garbage bins. To highlight this, Prevention Thematic Days will be implemented during the EWWR. The Prevention Thematic Days 2014 focus on the issue of Food Waste, which represents a substantial loss of resources such as land, water, energy and labour. During the EWWR, a high number of actions will address food waste prevention through cooking lessons, workshops on smart shopping and food storage, including extensive awareness-raising campaign in restaurants and other activities all over Europe!
Reduce, reuse, recycle: it is time to take action, and every action counts!
The EWWR in context: too much waste
Launched in 2009, the EWWR originally focused on raising awareness of waste prevention, the highest priority stated in the European waste management hierarchy. Over the five past editions, the EWWR has seen a growing success in Europe (and beyond), and created a network of public and private actors actively involved in the field of waste prevention. Not only associations, public authorities, educational establishments and Businesses, but also individual citizens will implement actions during the EWWR: this shows the increasing interest in how to reduce the amount of waste we put in our garbage bins every day.
Despite this, on average, a European citizen throws away nearly 500 kg of waste yearly, while recycling less than half of it - and in some countries almost none of it2. More efforts are needed, in particular to change people's habits at home, at the office, or when shopping, for instance. Taking advantage of its past success, the EWWR has proposed new features to help communicate on the 3Rs: Reduce waste, Reuse products, Recycle materials. In particular, the EWWR has developed new communication tools targeting specific audiences: public administrations and associations, businesses, schools, and individual citizens. Moreover, to catch the attention of Europeans on one of the ugliest sides of waste, European clean-up days will be implemented on 8-10 May 2015. The initiative, called "Let's Clean Up Europe", will call on volunteers to pick-up waste littered in nature, for instance on beaches, in forests and other areas.
The EWWR partnership
With the support of the LIFE+ programme from the European Commission, the EWWR project includes the following partners: ACR+ (Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Waste Management - European project coordinator), Brussels Environment (Belgium), the Catalan Waste Agency (Spain), the Environment communication association AICA (Italy), and the Hungarian Waste Agency (Hungary). In 2014, the European Week for Waste Reduction will be implemented under the coordination of 34 national or regional coordinators, public administrations - or bodies acting on their behalf - in 28 countries.
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1. The final number of registered actions, as of 20 November 2014, is 11.992
2. According to Eurostat, 492 kg of waste was generated per inhabitant in the EU28 in 2011, with only 42% of it were recycled or composted, with still many countries landfilling more than 80% of their municipal waste. Source: Eurostat
More information:
See the press file available on the EWWR website (http://www.ewwr.eu/en/misc/
ACR+ - European coordinator of the EWWR: contact@ewwr.eu
Lisa Labriga: ll@acrplus.org (Tel: +32.22.34.65.06)
