Zero Waste Europe has launched a project that will touch European cities, with the aim of providing them with all the tools and knowledge needed to reduce plastic waste. It’s called "Elevating Reuse in Cities".
Reading time: 3 min
Elevating Reuse In Cities (ERIC) is a new project, launched on 31 January by Zero Waste Europe (Brussels-based environmental network) and developed at European level, which aims to provide more tools and knowledge to cities, to prevent the increase in plastic waste. It is funded by the Plastics Solutions Fund, an international collaboration of funders working to reverse the trend of plastic pollution in oceans, rivers, land and air, with the ambition of putting European municipalities in a position to reduce the production of plastic waste.
Led by 10 organisations, part of Zero Waste Europe, the ERIC project focuses on training local authorities and organisations to become specialists in re-use systems, procurement policies, and design effective plastic prevention plans for events, public spaces and buildings.
ERIC highlights the urgent need to find effective ways to reduce the overuse of disposable items and especially plastic, which is one of the main factors determining our current exploitation and pollution of the Earth’s natural resources.
The most important cities among the 28 participating in the project are Zagreb (Croatia), Nicosia (Cyprus), Bled (Slovenia) and Lyon (France).
In Croatia, for example, plastic pollution is one of the biggest social and environmental problems: "accidental" fires occur frequently in plastic recycling factorieswhich reduces costs and falsely shows that plastic is recycled.
The misleading practices of recycling companies underline the need for urgent action to reduce the plastic waste produced, as the situation also costs the cities and municipalities which outsource collection services to the plastic companies themselves.
In Italy, some mayors have expressed their interest in taking preventive measures and reducing the use of plastic in their municipalities. In particular:
- Patrizia Lo Sciuto, Vice President of Zero Waste Italy and representative of the ERIC project in Sicily, affirms the need not to ignore plastic pollution, but to face a progressive renunciation of it, since plastic waste, especially disposable waste, when abandoned they devastate the seas, and the ERIC project represents an opportunity to have an impact on the problem;
- Massimo Fundarò, President of SRR Trapani Nord (Society for the regulation of the waste management service), calls for the implementation of the plastic prevention plan within the SRR waste management plan;
- Giorgio Del Ghingaro, Mayor of Viareggio, said "As the first mayor in Italy to adopt the strategy of the municipalities in “waste zero” in Capannori in 2007, I think there is more time to lose. We welcome the proposal to join the ERIC project".
Over the course of two years, cities participating in ERIC will create local plastic prevention plans and mobilise their communities around ambitious actions to introduce packaging reuse models that prevent plastic waste.
Further information on the project can be found on the Zero Waste Cities website.
For further informations:
Aiutare le città a prevenire l’aumento dei rifiuti plastici. Il nuovo progetto di Zero Waste Europe (Eco dalle città)
The ERIC project sets a new path to fight against single-use plastic, empowering cities for reuse (Zero Waste Europe)