Zero Waste Around The World – GrassRoots Recycling Network

World Map

Last modified: October 09, 2008

Resources compiled by GRRN were last updated in 2002.
For current Zero Waste developments, visit these websites:

North America

EcoCycle (Boulder CO)

Zero Waste Alliance

Zero Waste America

Zero Waste California

Zero Waste in NYC

International

Zero Waste International Alliance

Global Alternatives to Incineration Alliance

Zero Waste New Zealand

Canberra, Australia, No Waste by 2010

Zero Waste Kovalam

Annotated ZW Resources

by Gary Liss

North America top

United States
- Governmental
  - Washington, King County
    - King County has implemented numerous zero waste type programs over the last 10 years, recently characterizing all programs under one “Zero Waste of Resources” umbrella. See King County ‘s web site for information on KC’s ZWR 2030 programs.
    - Scroll down to Title 10, Chapter 10-14 of King County Code to read their ZWR ordinance, (adopted 2004.)
  - SWANA 2002 (California State – October 29, 2002)
  - California, San Francisco
    - ZW Release (July 30, 2002)
    - ZW Resolution (Adopted March 6, 2003)
  - Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
    - Strategic Plan 2000 – (Excerpt) – Vision includes Zero Waste: “Work is done with non-polluting technologies and with materials that are either fully recovered or fully returned to a natural state at the end of their product life cycle; there will be “zero waste” in our lives.” See the entire plan.
  - California, Del Norte County
    - ZW Plan (adopted 2000)
    - Zero Waste Communities of San Bernadino County, California.
  - California, Santa Cruz County
    - ZW Resolution (adopted 1999)
  - Washington, City of Seattle
    - Zero Waste goal in Seattles’s Solid Waste Plan, (adopted 1998)
  - North Carolina, Carrboro
    - ZW Resolution (passed 1998)
  - Georgia
    - First state ZW goal legislation (introduced 1997- not passed)
- Non-Governmental
  - - GrassRoots Recycling Network
    - California Resource Recovery Association
    - Agenda for a New Millennium
    - Zero Waste America
    - Zero Waste Alliance
    - The Natural Step USA
Canada
- Governmental
  - Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (2002)
    - British Columbia – southern interior
    - Implementation of a zero waste strategy in process
  - Toronto Declares Zero Waste! (article – January 2001)
  - Nova Scotia
    - A Summary of the Nova Scotia Solid Waste-Resource Management Strategy
    - Nova Scotia is one of the leading provinces in waste diversion in Canada, having achieved 50% in 2000 by official calculations. They have the most extensive set of disposal bans in North America, beverage container deposits that reward refillables, and other progressive programs.
    - British Columbia, Canada – Thanks to Michael Jessen for these links.
      - Regional groups have embraced the concept of Zero Waste and adopted it as a policy. The new strategy, called “Bringing Zero Waste to Kootenay Boundary – A Strategy for a Waste Free Future” provides a blueprint for moving from concept to implementation. It consists of eight initiatives to be pursued at the local level and ten initiatives involving local government efforts to influence change at the provincial level. The strategy is broad-based, targeting increased materials efficiencies in businesses, local economic development through “resource recovery” and public policy renewal to facilitate the development of a zero waste economy.
        Town of Smithers
        
        Regional Districts of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB)
        The RDKB endorsed the concept of zero waste in November 2000.
        
        Cowichan Valley
        
        Nanaimo
      - Thinking for the Future: The Possibility of Zero Waste in the Regional District of Nanaimo – paper for the Regional District of Nanaimo by Normandy Daniels – May 2001.
      - Zero Waste Working Group – a committee of the Recycling Council of BC.
        Zero Waste Toolkit for Local Government designed to assist local governments in evaluating the benefits and feasibility of using zero waste as a framework for resource management planning.
        
        Discussion paper (Zero Waste One Step at a Time – Benefits and Applications for Retail Businesses) introducing the concept of zero waste as a tool to assist retail and other types of businesses to increase their economic efficiency and move towards long term sustainability.
      - Zero Waste North – Information on how zero waste can benefit the local economy and provide new jobs.
- Non-Governmental
  - Nova Scotia: Community Responsibility in Action
    - As a result of community participation, Nova Scotia has achieved 50% waste diversion within five years, and leads all other Canadian provinces.
  - Target Zero Canada (website – launched November 2000)
    - Aiming for Zero Waste
  - Cut waste, make cash, firms told (article)
    - Toronto Star – (Dec. 26, 2000)
  - Governments could learn from business in reducing waste
    - by Jed Goldberg, Toronto Globe & Mail – (Dec. 22, 2000)

Australia/New Zealand top

Australia
- Governmental
  - Canberra: Australian Capital Territory
  - No Waste by 2010 – (Plan – adopted 1996)
  - West Australia State Government
  - Towards Zero Waste – Report and Recommendations of the WAste 2020 TaskForce – (Report – January 2001)
- Non-Governmental
  - Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
  - Zero Waste by 2010 – An Integrated Waste Elimination Strategy for New South Wales – (Report – November 2000)
New Zealand
- Governmental
  - Councils Aim For 0 Waste
  - 33* New Zealand Councils (Website – August 2000)
    - 45% of local governments have adopted
      ‘zero waste from landfill’ policy
    - * Number of involved New Zealand councils has grown! – Nov 2001
  - Target Zero – New Zealand (Website – Sept 2001)
  - a Christchurch City Council waste minimisation initiative
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero Waste New Zealand Trust (Website)
    - “Encouraging and motivating all sectors of New Zealand society to work towards a target of zero waste to landfill”
  - The End of Waste – Zero Waste by 2020 (Report – January 2001)
    - Download a pdf copy of this report directly from Zero Waste New Zealand Trust

Asia top

General
- Non-Governmental
  - Waste Not Asia – (Launched July 2000)
    - An alliance of Asia-Pacific Nations for promotion of Clean Production and a Zero-Waste oriented society.
India
- Zero Waste Kovalam
- Handling waste needs wisdom
  - And the wise way to handle city waste is to get local communities involved
Korea
- Non-Govermental
  - KWMN and Waste-Zero Movement
Philippines
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero-waste plan urged to get rid of dumps
    - Philippine Daily Inquirer, – (Article – July 18, 2000)

Europe top

Holland, Sweden, Germany, Austria
- Non-Governmental
  - Sweden Legislates for Sustainability
    - STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 4, 2001 (ENS) – The Swedish government today underlined its determination to make Sweden the world’s most environmentally sustainable nation by proposing a series of legal targets and deadlines for implementing 15 over-arching environmental quality objectives adopted in 1999.
- Governmental
  - Factor 10 Goals
    - Table from Gary Gardner and Payal Sampat, ‘Mind Over Matter: Recasting the Role of Materials in Our Lives’, Worldwatch Paper 144, December 1998, page 26.
    - “Within one generation, nations can achieve a ten-fold increase in the efficiency with which they use energy, natural resource and other materials.”
England
- Governmental
  - Tory Party Waste & Recycling Platform – (May 2000 – 68K)
    - “� change the whole culture surrounding waste – working to change public attitudes surrounding waste disposal, packaging and dumping.”
  - Liberal Democrat Waste Charter -(May 2000)
    - “� a long term target of zero industrial waste to landfill within the next 40 years.”
- Non-Governmental
  - DEMOS Study calls for national Zero Waste Fund & Agency – (1999)
Ireland
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero Waste Ireland
Scotland
- Non-Governmental
  - Towards Zero
Isle of Man
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero Waste Mann
Switzerland
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero Emissions Research Initiative – Head Office
    - “ZERI seeks to create a new paradigm of sustainable industry by targeting zero gaseous, liquid and solid emissions, and by making Zero Emissions a world-wide industry standard.”

Africa top

Namibia
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero Emissions Research Initiative

Latin America top

Brazil, Colombia
- Non-Governmental
  - Zero Emissions Research Initiative