International Day of Zero Waste - 30 March

Photo: © UNEP

Addressing the waste crisis

Humanity’s unsustainable production and consumption practices are driving the planet towards destruction.

Households, small businesses and public service providers generate between 2.1 billion and 2.3 billion tons of municipal solid waste every year – from packaging and electronics to plastics and food. However, global waste management services are ill-equipped to handle this, with 2.7 billion people lacking access to solid waste collection and only 61–62 per cent of municipal solid waste being managed in controlled facilities. Humanity must act urgently to address the waste crisis.

The second annual International Day of Zero Waste highlights both the critical need to bolster waste management globally and the importance of sustainable production and consumption practices. It celebrates zero-waste initiatives at all levels, which contribute to the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Bolstering waste management and upstream solutions 

Improving collection, recycling and other forms of sound waste management remain an urgent priority.

But to solve the waste crisis, humanity must treat waste as a resource. This entails reducing waste generation and following the lifecycle approach. Resources should be reused or recovered as much as possible, and products should be designed to be durable and require fewer and low-impact materials. Upstream solutions like these can minimize pollution of air, land, and water and decrease the extraction of precious and limited natural resources.

Achieving zero-waste societies requires action at all levels from all stakeholders.

Consumers can change consumption habits and reuse and repair products as much as possible before properly disposing of them. Governments, communities, industries and other stakeholders must improve financing and policymaking, especially as the waste crisis disproportionately impacts the marginalized, urban poor, women and youth.

 

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Background

On 14 December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution at its seventy-seventh session to proclaim 30 March as International Day of Zero Waste, to be observed annually. Türkiye put forward the resolution and 105 other countries joined in sponsoring it. It follows other resolutions focused on waste, including “End plastic pollution: towards an internationally legally binding instrument”, adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly on 2 March 2022.

During International Day of Zero Waste, Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, civil society, the private sector, academia, youth and other stakeholders are invited to engage in activities aimed at raising awareness of national, subnational, regional and local zero-waste initiatives and their contribution to achieving sustainable development. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) jointly facilitate the observance of International Day of Zero Waste.

Promoting zero-waste initiatives through this international day can help advance all the goals and targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goal 11 and Sustainable Development Goal 12. These goals address all forms of waste, including food loss and waste, natural resource extraction and electronic waste.

illustration of sustainable fashion

 

Let's make sustainability a fashion statement

UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh weighs in on sustainable fashion. "Fashion has become more affordable, and we have more of it. But the actual costs are much higher, and much more devastating than we realize," she says. Be an informed consumer. Learn six things you didn't know about the true cost of fast fashion. Join the ActNow for Zero-Waste Fashion challenge. You can also Shop Zero Waste.

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Zero Waste Town: Power of Recycling in Japan

Osaki in the southwest of Japan is known as a recycling town. With a population of around 12,000, the town recycles a remarkable 80 per cent of its waste, and was able to avoid building an incineration plant. Ms. Kasumi Fujita moved to Osaki in 2021 to work with the municipality, business sector and local community to help prepare the town for a more sustainable future. In 2023, she was elected as the first female council member of Osaki. She shares what motivates her and the people of Osaki to recycle for the environment and the future.

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Why do we mark International Days?

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.

Did you know?

  • Packed into standard shipping containers and placed end-to-end, municipal solid waste generated in one year would wrap around the globe 25 times.
  • Increasing resource use is the main driver of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution.
  • Without urgent action, municipal solid waste generation will balloon to 3.8 billion tons annually by 2050.
  • Humanity produces 430 million tons of plastic a year, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that quickly become waste.

Source: UNEP and UN-Habitat

Get involved

Register your activities and events at UNEP. Submit best practices through the One Planet network.

Join the conversation on social media using #ZeroWasteDay and #BeatWastePollution

Test your knowledge with our AI-generated quiz!

Documents

UN System

Related observances

This part of the article has been originally published in United Nations' site through this link https://www.un.org/en/observances/zero-waste-day 

UN entities involved in this initiative

UN-Habitat
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
UN
United Nations
UNEP
United Nations Environment Programme

Goals we are supporting through this initiative