On average, each European citizen produces nearly half a tonne of municipal waste each year. The EU aims to significantly decrease this by 2030 but latest trends show that per capita waste generation has remained near stable for the past decade. To rectify this, the EU supports a defined waste hierarchy featuring waste prevention as the number one priority.
Increased action to reduce waste – prevention measures as well as strategies to manage and minimise existing waste – is urgently needed not only to achieve targets, but also to protect our environment, conserve resources, and promote sustainable development. Economically, waste reduction can also lower costs for businesses and public authorities while promoting innovation in recycling and sustainable product design.
Regional authorities are key actors for waste management and can actively support waste reduction by establishing prevention policies and targets, adopting green public procurement and encouraging citizen participation via awareness raising campaigns. This webinar series will provide inspiration for implementing waste reduction in three sectors deemed a priority by the EU Circular Economy Action Plan.
Globally, around one third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. At the same time, over 42 million people in the EU cannot afford a quality meal every second day. To tackle this issue, binding food waste reduction targets have been set by the EU: 10% in food processing and manufacturing and 30% in retail, restaurants, food services and households by 2030. The third and final webinar in the series will present exemplary actions to support food waste reduction and foster redistribution of ‘waste’ food.
