Nairobi, 27 March 2024 – To commemorate the second annual International Day of Zero Waste, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste has announced three outstanding practices in waste management from around the globe.
The Advisory Board – whose Secretariat is the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – selected these good practices based on their significant contribution to the global effort to achieving zero waste, with each good practice offering insights and lessons for replication and adaptation in other contexts. One of the outstanding practices is a certification to incentivise single-use plastic reduction in the hospitality industry of Spain’s Balearic Islands. The second equips Indigenous women working in Nigeria’s cassava value chain with machines and skills to increase productivity and minimize post-harvest losses by recycling cassava peel into nutritious animal feed. The third focuses on reducing glass waste.
“As the Chair of the United Nations Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, I believe that (raising) awareness of waste-free and sustainable life will be one of the most favourable legacies we can leave to future generations,” said Emine Erdoğan, First Lady of Türkiye.
The dissemination of the selected good practices through UNEP’s One Planet network intends to provide citizens, the private sector, civil society organizations, governments and any actor in the waste chain with information to enable them to prioritize waste management and implement and replicate initiatives that contribute to addressing the global waste crisis.
Established under United Nations General Assembly resolution 77/161, the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Zero Waste promotes local and national zero-waste initiatives through awareness-raising, local and national zero-waste initiatives, and dissemination of good practices and success stories.
The International Day of Zero Waste serves as a platform to recognize and celebrate the remarkable achievements of individuals, organizations, and communities dedicated to minimizing waste and promoting environmental sustainability.
UNEP and UN-Habitat reiterated the importance of the International Day of Zero Waste in separate remarks.
“Humanity can't keep letting poorly managed waste compromise human and environmental health,” said Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director of UNEP’s Economy Division.
Michal Mlynár, Acting Executive Director of UN-Habitat, said: “Zero waste makes sense on every level. By retaining materials within the economy and enhancing waste management practices, we bring benefits to our economies, our societies, our planet, and ourselves.”
For further information, please contact Katerina Bezgachina, UN-Habitat Chief of Communications, or News and Media Unit, UN Environment Programme.