About the Summit

The Global Zero Waste Cities Summit was hosted by GAIA and Zero Waste Europe in May 2023. Together with experts and advocates, we:

• discussed the latest developments on zero waste as a proven, cost-effective strategy to both reduce waste pollution and help cities reach their climate goals; and
• met hundreds of municipal officials, zero waste implementers, and fellow changemakers.

The GZWC Summit was a live, interactive, virtual event spanning all timezones and multiple languages (Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, Portuguese, and more). 

WHAT IS ZERO WASTE

Zero waste is both a goal and a plan of action to phase out waste disposal in landfills and incinerators through a variety of strategies such as waste prevention, redesign, reuse, organic waste recovery and recycling. Overall, implementing zero waste systems creates more resilient communities, a cooler climate, social equity, and healthier environments.

Over 550 municipalities around the world are already taking steps to transition into zero waste in a wide range of economic, social, climatic, and legal contexts.