Zero Waste Cities

What are they?

Today nearly 400 cities have taken on the challenge of the Zero Waste Masterplan, joining a movement initiated and supported by Zero Waste Europe member organisations across the continent. These cities are monitored and aided in their journey by these organisations as well as the Zero Waste Europe Brussels office and a wide range of practitioner experts.

The Zero Waste Cities programme is supported by a network of zero waste non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) working on all aspects of zero waste practice. Our network has expertise and experience covering the implementation of separate collection and reuse centres, to the pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) collection mechanisms and deposit return schemes, with a range of specialisations in between.

We rely on this network of expert organisations to evaluate and monitor the cities who have begun on the path to zero waste and ensure that they are living up to their commitments as well as highlighting their best practices and achievements to be replicated across Europe.

If you are interested in joining this community, the Zero Waste Cities team can put you in touch with the network member in your country and give you advice to take the next steps towards zero waste.

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Cities

in the zero waste network

Two categories of city

What are the criteria?

The zero waste cities terminology covers two categories of city:

  • Those who have made the commitment to move towards zero waste and are meeting the criteria set out in the Zero Waste Masterplan document. These cities regularly coordinate with Zero Waste Europe member groups to provide up-to-date information for our database. These cities, some of whom are making phenomenal progress on their journey are marked on our map with blue pins.
  • ‘Best Practice Cities’ who are producing less than 75kg of residual waste per-person-per-year. These cities are the front runners of the growing movement towards zero waste on a municipal level, and are frequently the focus of our case studies. They are marked on our map with a gold star.
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Reduction in waste sent for disposal

in Ljubljana

Mapping the cities across Europe

Where are the cities?

As part of this programme we have created a map of the nearly 400 cities and municipalities across Europe who are committed to zero waste. Once our members have verified the commitment of your municipality we will add a pin to the map. The blue pins mark the cities who have made the commitment to move towards zero waste. The gold stars mark the ‘best practice’ cities where residual waste per capita is under 75kg.

Find out more on our mapping of European Zero Waste Municipalities and explore our benchmark tool.

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Kilograms

residual waste per capita in Treviso