European Week for Waste Reduction

The European Week for Waste Reduction is an initiative aiming to promote the implementation of awareness-raising actions about sustainable resource and waste management during a single week.

It encourages a wide range of audiences (public authorities, private companies, civil society as well as citizens themselves) to get involved.



The European Week for Waste Reduction is an initiative aiming to promote the implementation of awareness-raising actions about sustainable resource and waste management during a single week.

It encourages a wide range of audiences (public authorities, private companies, civil society as well as citizens themselves) to get involved.

What are the EWWR’s objectives?

to raise awareness about waste reduction, product reuse and material recycling strategies, and related European Union and Member States policies,
to highlight the work accomplished by various actors, through concrete examples of awareness-raising actions about waste reduction, product reuse, and material recycling,
to mobilise and encourage the public and all target groups to concentrate on four key action themes,
to reinforce EWWR stakeholders’ capacities by providing them with targeted communication tools and training,
to assess the impact of communication actions on concrete behaviour change regarding consumption and waste management patterns.


What are the EWWR’s main features?

Coordination of awareness-raising actions during one week of the year
Development of target-group-specific communication tools for schools, businesses, administrations/associations and citizens
Development and promotion of Prevention Thematic Days focusing on one specific waste prevention topic per year
Development and testing of the concept of a European Clean-Up Day: “Let’s Clean Up Europe”

The core of the message: 3Rs and a clean-up
The actions implemented in the EWWR are addressing the “3Rs”: Reduce waste, Reuse products, Recycle material.

The “3Rs” represent the options which should be considered first when elaborating a waste management strategy.

Following the hierarchy illustrated here (http://www.ewwr.eu/main-features-of-the-project), reducing waste should always be the first priority. Reduce means using fewer resources in the first place and includes strict avoidance as well as reduction at source. The second-best option is to reuse products. This includes also preparation for reuse. Third priority and the last waste management option that is included in the EWWR is materials recycling.
Themes of actions:
1. Reduce - Strict avoidance and reduction at source: This theme covers actions that aim at raising awareness about the urgency of reducing the quantity of waste we produce by giving advice on how to avoid or reduce waste at source, as for example by home composting, using anti-advertising stickers for mailboxes or opting for tap water. It furthermore covers actions that aim at changing consumer behaviour by promoting the inclusion of sustainability aspects in purchase decisions, as for example by opting for eco-labelled products or those with little or no packaging, by buying in bulk, or by choosing dematerialised gifts.
2. Reuse - Preparing for reuse and reuse: This theme covers actions that aim at reminding participants that products can have a second life, at promoting repair or reuse of products instead of purchasing new ones, and at encouraging the donation of products that are no longer needed. The theme also includes actions that aim at changing consumer behaviour in the sense of buying reusable or refillable products, hiring items rather than buying them and similar.
3. Recycle - Waste sorting and recycling: This theme covers actions that aim at helping people to improve their waste-sorting behaviour by, for example, explaining how to close the loop of material resources, by encouraging people to bring their waste to the proper collector, or by organising visits to sorting and recycling facilities.
4. Let’s Clean Up Europe! In order to reduce the quantity of waste littered in nature and to give visibility to the problematic, the EWWR will coordinate a Europe-wide annual clean-up day. The European Clean-Up Day, “Let’s Clean Up Europe!” will take place on the same day all over Europe, trying to involve and reach as many citizens as possible. Please find out more about Let’s Clean Up Europe! here.