European Week for Waste Reduction

From 20 to 28 November, the European Week for Waste Reduction 2021 (European Week for Waste Reduction, EWWR) will be held. It is meant to raise awareness on sustainability and proper waste management through the involvement of public authorities, businesses, civil society and citizens. In particular, it aims to promote greater understanding among citizens of the excessive amounts of waste produced and the need to drastically reduce it. The emphasis is therefore on waste prevention and the actions proposed embrace the so-called 3Rs: reduction, but also re-use and recycling.

“Following this hierarchy, waste reduction should always be the first priority,”explain the organisers of the European Week for Waste Reduction. “Reduction means first and foremost strict prevention and reduction at source. The second best option is to reuse the products. This also includes preparation for re-use. Finally, the third priority is the recycling of materials.

After the 2020 edition dedicated to invisible waste, this year’s European Week for Waste Reduction looks at the circular economy with the theme “Circular Communities”. The idea is to create and consolidate social links within local communities, which will stimulate their ‘more circular’ development, based on the conviction that waste reduction must be achieved through a change in individual and collective usage patterns.

The 2021 edition envisages around 12,000 actions across Europe, more than a third of which (4,752, an increase of more than 1,300 compared to 2020) are planned in Italy. Some of the initiatives proposed for the 13th edition of the Week are:

• Clean-Up actions;
• the creation of urban allotments to share spaces and reduce wastage and packaging waste;
• the “oggettoteche” (library of things) project to share small objects and appliances;
• the creation of virtuous chains of sharing second-hand clothes or food that would otherwise be thrown away;
• the setting up of small repair centres for damaged objects to make use of the skills and expertise of individuals.