Say “No” to Landfills and Incinerators: New Case Studies Show ‘Zero Waste’ Success in Europe
In recent times, there has been considerable debate on the benefits of landfills and incinerators in Malaysia by both landfill operators and pro-incinerator lobbyists who have been using the media to present their arguments.
The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) would like to highlight that instead of harping on polluting and wasting methods such as landfills and incinerators, the Zero Waste approach is a suitable sustainable alternative. As opposed to landfills and incinerators, the Zero Waste concept understands that discarded materials are not waste, but a precious resource that can be recycled into the market and the nature creating jobs and building a responsible society.
Yesterday, Zero Waste Europe published three new case studies ( a second edition and two brand new cases) showing that the successful development and implementation of zero waste strategies in Europe is already taking place and is set to inspire further communities, towns and cities to transform the relationship with resources and adopt zero waste goals.
The case studies focus on Capannori (Italy), Argentona (Catalonia, Spain) and Vhrnika (Slovenia), and review the stories of their successes to date, providing an analysis of the key elements that allowed such impressive transition. Today, these case studies show that, in contrast with the outdated idea of burning or burying waste, preventing, reusing and recycling will create jobs and resilience, save money, and protect the environment and public health.
Moreover, these Zero Waste efforts go hand-in-hand with clean production, producer responsibility, and waste minimization programmes for dangerous and hard-to-recycle materials. Together, these practical, bottom-up strategies provide some of the best decentralized urban solutions for reducing climate pollution and conserving energy and natural resources.
Mariel Vilella, Zero Waste Europe’s Associate Director and Editor of the case studies said: “These innovative practitioners are showing that zero waste is a feasible strategy whose day has come. With their own local particularities, the three best practices are good examples of how strong policy decisions combined with community empowerment and participation can achieve groundbreaking results.”
Joan Marc Simon, Executive Director with Zero Waste Europe added, “At the policy level, these case studies show the feasibility of the proposals for a Circular Economy as presented by the European Commission in July 2014. Actually, the results offered by the network of zero waste municipalities prove that it is possible to aim even higher.”
Some of the highlights of these case studies are:
— The Italian town of Capannori was the first town in Europe that committed to a Zero Waste goal. It has managed to reach 82% of separately collected municipal solid waste (MSW) and a 57% reduction between 2006 and 2011. Its Zero Waste Research Centre is the first of its kind and keeps the system continually committed to reduce residual waste.
— The Catalan town of Argentona, in the northeast of Barcelona, spearheads the network of Catalan Zero Waste municipalities. When the door-to-door collection system was introduced in 2004, Argentona more than doubled its recycling rates and became a reference in Catalonia for separate collection and pay-as-you-throw.
— Vhrnika in Slovenia, even lacking the tradition of recycling boasted by many Western European nations, has leapfrogged the recycling rates of many better-established programmes around Europe, reaching 76.17% separate collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) and aiming to reach 82% in the next 5 years.
In August 2014, the Malaysian Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government launched an action plan for solid waste management and cleaning of public areas for 2015 until 2020. During the launch, the Minister stated that the main challenge is to encourage the effective practice of the reduce, reuse and recycle culture among society. This need not be so.
Many communities around the world have adopted Zero Waste plans, and have shown that Zero Waste is a desirable and feasible alternative to the current model of wasting. We call on the Malaysian government to draw up a strategy and action plan to move towards Zero Waste based on the experiences of communities worldwide.
Zero waste is possible. If other communities can strive towards it, Malaysia surely “boleh”.
Press Release, 4th September 2014
Note: Zero Waste Europe was created to empower communities to rethink their relationship with resources. In a growing number of regions, local groups of individuals, businesses and city officials are taking significant steps towards eliminating waste in our society. Read more at http://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/about/.