Towards Zero Waste: an educational guide produced by groundWork as part of its Environmental Justice School for Activists.
What do we mean by “waste” in the first place. What one person no longer wants may still have value and potential for reuse, repair or recovery. A discarded cellphone can find a new owner. Used paper can become a source of income for a waste picker and a material for recycling.
But moving towards zero waste requires more than better waste management or improved recycling. It requires us to question the systems that extract resources, produce goods, and then treat them as disposable. It asks us to imagine a different, regenerative economy – one that respects the limits of nature and enables people to live well with each other and the Earth.
This guide explores what zero waste means as part of a just transition, and why preventing waste is an essential part of this transition. It also looks at the important role of waste pickers in recovering resources, the responsibilities of government and industry, and why some proposed solutions to the waste crisis, such as incineration, simply create new forms of pollution rather than addressing the problem at its source.
Moving towards zero waste requires action at every level. Individuals and organisations can work to prevent waste and keep resources in use. Governments must create the policies and systems needed to support the transition, while producers and industry must take responsibility for the products and materials they place on the market. A just, zero waste world is possible, but getting there will require collective action and changes to the systems that create waste in the first place.
Read the full booklet: Towards Zero Waste
