StopWaste

Waste is a major environmental, social and economic problem in Europe. In the EU, over 3B tonnes of garbage are discarded each year and 90% of the used resources become waste after their first use. The Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC amended by the Directive (EU) 2018/851) -WFD- adopted to alleviate this situation defined waste prevention as the preferred waste strategy and set the legal obligation for the EU Member States (MS) to take measures for preventing waste generation. Despite adopting waste prevention programmes and strategies, the EU countries have been struggling to be on track with reducing waste generation and achieving the established goals. Indeed, local and regional waste management-related public policies in Europe have been underperforming in deploying WFD, what concerns the prevention of waste generation. In the countries involved in StopWaste the situation is not different (LT–50kg/capita/year waste growth since 2016, PT-70kg/capita/year growth and NL-slight decrease since 2013; RO-stagnation since 2014). This is partly since most EU MS have paid primarily attention to the waste stage, rather than to the previous stages of the product life cycle. This also created a knowledge gap as very few countries have gained extensive experience in waste prevention (design, reuse, repair, redistribution, refurbishment, remanufacturing). StopWaste will address this knowledge and performance gap. It will promote interregional experience exchange and mutual learning for the improvement of regional and local policy instruments on waste generation prevention, fostering the adoption and/or the effectiveness waste prevention projects/activities in 4 EU territories (Viseu Dão Lafões region in PT, Alytus region in LT, Bucharest-Ilfov in RO, and the City of Almere in NL), focusing on urban areas. StopWaste results will enhance the deployment of the WDF and contribute to the achievement of a Greener Europe, in line with the Interreg 2021-2027 programme objective.