Gaia

Zero waste is emerging as one of the most powerful, immediate climate actions available to governments. This publication provides practical, context‑specific guidance to help local and national governments finance and sustain zero waste systems that cut methane, improve public health, strengthen livelihoods, and build fiscal resilience.

Establishing waste separation at source (S@S) is the foundation of zero waste systems. It means separating different types of waste—such as organic, recyclable, and residual materials—at the point where waste is generated, keeping materials clean and preventing contamination. This publication presents 12 diverse successful cases from five regions: Africa (Tanzania), Asia (India, The Philippines), Europe (Greece, Slovenia, Italy), North America (USA), and Latin America (Costa Rica). The communities featured range in scale, from Tilos Island with a permanent population of 700 residents, to megacities such as Bengaluru, where the zero waste systems reach approximately 2 million people. Across these jurisdictions, source separation rates vary according to local mandates and frameworks, ranging from 30-33% organic waste diversion in Portland to outstanding rates of 80- 95% in places such as Varkala, San Fernando, and Dar es Salaam, and reaching 100% in Tilos Island.

The Durban Zero Waste Project pilot shows that decentralized organic waste management can deliver powerful environmental and economic outcomes when regarded as a municipal public service rather than a commercial enterprise. The model reduces costs already borne by the municipality through avoided landfill disposal, avoided transport, avoided compost purchases, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The Neglasari pilot project in Bandung, Indonesia demonstrates that community-based organic waste management can be financially feasible when the government finances the public-service functions that markets do not pay for, particularly land, source-separated organics collection, education, and waste treatment. This model is financially attractive as it generates public goods such as recoverable organic products, local livelihoods, and avoided landfill costs.

« Bio » ne signifie pas « bon » ou « sans danger ». Trop souvent, l’accent mis sur les bioplastiques sert à masquer la surproduction massive de plastiques jetables ou à usage unique. Les bioplastiques actuels sont, dans leur grande majorité, des substituts regrettables aux plastiques conventionnels, destinés à finir en décharge et à perpétuer la pollution microplastique.

In this discussion paper, GAIA and SOMO synthesise insights from our June 2026 virtual learning circle on lithium-ion battery overproduction. The session brought together more than twenty participants from industry, research, civil society, labour organisations, and affected community advocates — spanning China, Latin America, Europe, and the United States. Global manufacturing capacity for lithium-ion batteries is now estimated at two to five times greater than current demand — a structural gap expected to persist well into the 2030s. This paper asks: what is driving it, who pays the price, and what can we do about it?

«Bio» no significa que sea bueno o seguro. Con demasiada frecuencia, el énfasis en el uso de los bioplásticos sirve sólo para encubrir con argumentos ecológicos la sobreproducción masiva de plásticos de un solo uso o de corta vida útil. Los bioplásticos actuales son, en su gran mayoría, sustitutos lamentables de los plásticos convencionales de un solo uso, que terminan en los vertederos y perpetúan la contaminación por microplásticos.

The concept of Community Right-to-Know underscores the importance of public access to environmental data collected by recycling facilities to ensure meaningful public participation in decision-making processes that affect local environments and communities. This fact sheet highlights the five key takeaways of the report, Risks of Lithium-ion Battery Facilities to Workers and Communities in Reno, which examines the environmental and health implications of lithium-ion battery recycling in Nevada’s rapidly expanding “Lithium Loop” and beyond.

Lithium-ion battery recycling is increasingly framed as a critical climate solution. However, without strong transparency and accountability standards, this emerging industry risks generating new environmental health harms even as it claims to address others. The concept of Community Right-to-Know highlights the importance of public access to environmental data collected by recycling facilities to ensure meaningful public participation in decision-making processes that affect local environments and communities.

This case study examines the environmental and health implications of lithium-ion battery recycling in Nevada’s rapidly expanding “Lithium Loop” and is designed not only to document current conditions but to equip communities, policymakers, and other stakeholders with the information and frameworks needed to strengthen transparency and accountability across the sector. This case study marks the launch of GAIA’s Community Right-to-Know Initiative for Battery Recycling, a multi-year effort to:

• Establish industry-wide transparency and accountability benchmarks among battery recyclers regarding transition mineral claims.
• Support frontline communities in accessing, interpreting, and acting on environmental data.
• Align battery supply chain stakeholders, policymakers, researchers, and advocates, in Nevada and throughout the US, around enforceable disclosure standards.

Without these safeguards, the economic and climate benefits of electrification risk posing environmental health burdens to local communities. Transparency, accountability, and meaningful participation are prerequisites for a just and sustainable battery supply chain.

This fact sheet details the impacts of bioplastics on human health and the environment, and how it replaces one form of single-use pollution with another, diverting attention from proven solutions to plastic waste through prevention and reuse.

La RADA (Red de Acción por los Derechos Ambientales) es una organización social que desde el 2006 promueve y defiende el medio ambiente como un derecho humano fundamental. Su trabajo se desarrolla principalmente en la región de La Araucanía, en el Wallmapu, territorio mapuche del sur de Chile.

La RADA se propuso el objetivo de explorar las formas en que se ven afectadas las comunidades mapuche y campesinas del Centro Sur de Chile debido a los plásticos y sus múltiples formas
de introducción a la vida social, económica y doméstica durante los últimos años. También se propuso informar sobre el proceso de negociaciones del tratado global y promover la participación de estas comunidades en él.

Estudio de caso realizado por la RADA (Red de Acción por los Derechos Ambientales) es una organización social que desde el 2006 promueve y deende el medio ambiente como un derecho humano fundamental. Su trabajo se desarrolla principalmente en la región de La Araucanía, en el Wallmapu, territorio mapuche del sur de Chile.

Los logros cuanticables de la política pública son importantes y demuestran que sí se puede avanzar en la dirección de basura cero, derribando los mitos que tratan a esta estrategia como una utopía. En concreto, Melipeuco ha reducido la disposición nal de basura de 3.797 toneladas en 2021, a 1.318 toneladas en 2022, ahorrando más de 90 millones de pesos anuales, pasando desde $242.082.648 en gastos en 2021, a aproximadamente $132.124.041 en 2022. Lo ahorrado hoy en día se invierte en los vecinos y en benecios para la comunidad.