Today is the International Day of Zero Waste.
The purpose of the day is to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, support the societal shift towards circularity and raise awareness about how zero-waste initiatives contribute to the advancement of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The waste sector contributes significantly to the so-called “triple planetary crisis” that includes climate change, biodiversity and nature loss, and pollution. According to the UN, humanity generates an estimated 2,24 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually, of which only 55% is managed in controlled facilities. Every year, around 931 million tons of food is wasted and up to 14 million tons of plastic waste enters aquatic ecosystems.
A zero-waste approach entails responsible production, consumption and disposal of products in a closed, circular system. This means that resources are reused or recovered as much as possible.
Promoting zero-waste initiatives through this international day can help advance all the goals and targets in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including SDG’s 11 and 12. These goals address all forms of waste, including food loss and waste, natural resource extraction and electronic waste.
The United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 2022 formally recognized the importance of zero-waste initiatives and proclaimed 30 March as the International Day of Zero Waste, to be observed annually beginning in 2023.
Sources and links to read more:
https://www.un.org/en/observances/zero-waste-day
https://www.unep.org/events/un-day/international-day-zero-waste-2023
Photo by: UNEP
