Zero Waste Cities is a programme of Zero Waste Europe aimed at helping cities and communities move towards zero waste. It brings together a European knowledge platform for local communities and organisations to implement best practices, as well as a mentoring and recognition programme for municipalities. ‘Zero Waste Cities is jointly managed by Zero Waste Europe and its member organisations.

The aim of the programme is to accelerate the transition to zero waste at the city level – especially in small and medium-sized municipalities – by implementing relevant EU legislation and zero waste strategies based on citizen-centred models. This will lead to a significant reduction in waste generation and an increase in separate collection and recycling.

This project has been developed in collaboration with 11 Zero Waste Europe members who are working locally on Zero Waste models that have been successfully applied at the community level.

The Zero Waste Cities programme is actively involved in a number of different projects across Europe and contributes to the creation of educational resources on the implementation of zero waste and the dissemination of best practices to accelerate the transition to zero waste at the local level.
28 members in 24 European countries implement a mentoring and conscious waste management programme that currently brings together almost 400 municipalities. Our network has the experience and expertise to implement separate collection centres, recycling, payment collection schemes, pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) and deposit return system (DRS).