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The European Week for Waste Reduction kicks off with over 10,600 actions to reduce, reuse, recycle, and clean up

  • Published on November 20, 2020
The 12th edition of the campaign focuses on “invisible waste”

The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) is back for another intensive week of awareness-raising events from 21 to 29 November 2020. For its 12th edition, over 10,600 actions related to waste reduction, products reuse, materials recycling, as well as clean-ups will be carried out across 32 countries in Europe and beyond.

The EWWR is a leading international campaign to promote waste prevention through awareness-raising actions organised during a single week in November. The objective of these actions is to change the behaviour surrounding consumption patterns and waste generation habits. 

Participants are as diverse as schools, public administrations, companies, NGOs, and citizens. In order to accomplish waste and climate targets, a wide variety of stakeholders need to take action at different levels: local, regional, national, and international. The EWWR brings together such actors at different levels in dozens of countries.

Each year, the EWWR selects a specific aspect of waste reduction on which to focus. For the 12th edition, the chosen theme is invisible waste, namely that waste that is out of sight to most of us because it is generated during the manufacturing of products. This theme highlights the need to prevent waste all along the life cycle of a product, challenging participants to make invisible waste visible and get to know the “real weight” they carry home after a purchase.

Discover the exciting upcoming actions in our database of actions and get involved by taking part in one that is organised near you!

A message as topical as ever

The 12th edition of the EWWR comes in an unprecedented time of crisis and uncertainty. Nevertheless, once again the campaign has received impressive traction and mobilised thousands of people who found creative ways of raising awareness far from crowds.

The waste sector has not been exempted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the contrary, this crisis has made it very clear how the health of people and the health of our planet are closely interlinked.

Throughout the pandemic, circular economy stayed high on the EU policy agenda and calls have been made to include circular economy in post Covid-19 recovery plans. In an article published by the Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, Janez Potočnik stated that “the European Green Deal and post-Covid-19 are two sides of the same coin. No flipping required".

Against this backdrop, the EWWR mantra “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, in the wider scope of optimising resource management and contributing to circular economy, stays an all-important message.

If you wish to find out everything about this years’ EWWR edition, have a look at the comprehensive press file.

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