Press Contact: Pierre Condamine, Waste Policy Officer, Zero Waste Europe

pierre@zerowasteeurope.eu

+32 (0) 2 73 62 091

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels 27/03/2019

A new study commissioned by Zero Waste Europe identifies how to best measure waste prevention

and what are the most useful policies to minimise waste generation.

The waste hierarchy starts with prevention (1), yet most EU policies focus on recycling, recovery and disposal

rather than looking upstream where the potential for environmental and economic gains is the highest.

Among the study’s propositions, Zero Waste Europe calls for:

Complementing the monitoring of waste generation with upstream indicators about the benefits related to savings from non-extracted resources Developing dedicated sectoral waste prevention indicators for the following 9 specific product groups:

Food and beverages

Large household appliances

Small household appliances

IT and telecommunications equipment

Toys, leisure and sports equipment

Electrical and electronic tools

Textiles

Motor vehicles

Furniture and furnishing

For those 9 product groups, waste prevention has a substantial ecological, social and economic relevance

while showing high improvement potentials.

“A Circular Economy will require a substantial reduction in resources use and waste generation and

sectoral waste prevention indicators are the best way to set milestones to orient complementary policies

in the years to come” said Pierre Condamine, Waste Policy Officer at Zero Waste Europe.

Download the study

ENDS