The world has marked the inaugural International Day of Zero Waste on March 30, 2023.
The International Day of Zero Waste (now known as Zero Waste Day) encourages everyone to prevent and minimize waste and promotes a societal shift towards a circular economy.
It raises awareness about how zero-waste initiatives contribute to the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) jointly facilitated the observance of International Day of Zero Waste.
Stakeholders to create a zero-waste future
The Day calls upon all stakeholders – including civil society, businesses, academia, local communities, women and youth – to engage in activities that raise awareness of zero-waste initiatives.
Backdrop
The day was established through a UN General Assembly resolution that followed other resolutions on waste, including the March 2, 2022 UN Environment Assembly’s commitment to advance a global agreement to end plastic pollution.
Humanity generates more than 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually, of which 45 per cent is mismanaged.
Without urgent action, municipal solid waste will double to almost 4 billion tons each year by 2050.
Waste comes in all forms and sizes – including plastics, debris from mining and construction sites, electronics and food. It disproportionately impacts the poor, with up to 4 billion people lacking access to controlled disposal facilities.
The International Day of Zero Waste aims to bring these myriad impacts of waste to the world’s attention and encourage global action at all levels to reduce pollution and waste.
The International Day of Zero Waste aims to bring the impacts of waste to the world’s attention and encourage global action at all levels to reduce pollution and waste. Promoting zero-waste initiatives can help advance all the goals and targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including SDGs 11 and 12. These goals address all forms of waste, including food loss and waste, natural resource extraction and electronic waste.
Theme of the International Day of Zero Waste 2023
The theme for International Day of Zero Waste 2023 is ‘Achieving sustainable and environmentally sound practices of minimizing and managing waste’.
Key Takeaways
- The inaugural International Day of Zero Waste was observed on March 30, 2023
- The day encourages everyone to prevent and minimize waste.
- The new celebration promotes a societal shift towards a circular economy, recognizing and responding to the worsening impacts of waste on human health, the economy, and the environment.
- The World Bank estimates that two billion tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated globally every year.
