GAIA Asia Pacific launches Regulatory Catalysts: Rejecting Single-Use Plastics In Asia
Presently, several Asian countries have national regulations or bans on single-use plastics. Bangladesh, the first country to have a national ban on plastic bags, passed the ban in 2002[1], long before the problem of single-use plastic bags became a mainstream issue....
read more
The reality of waste-derived fuels: up in the air
Turning waste into fuels has not been successful for over three decades. Would it work any better for jet fuels? Most likely not. Dr. Andrew Rollinson disputes industry claims after looking into the latest research and the trends on waste-derived jet fuels. Among the...
read more
A Tale of 5 Cities
In five major U.S. cities, 64% of plastic collected is NOT recyclable. For decades, U.S. cities have collected mixed plastic in recycling programs in an unsuccessful attempt to solve the plastic waste crisis. Analyzing the municipal solid waste (MSW) streams of five...
read more
Zero Waste City Manual
A toolkit to establish city and community Zero Waste systems The Zero Waste City Manual: A toolkit to establish city and community Zero Waste systems by GAIA member Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) presents a practicable plan for...
read more
Chemical Recycling Technical Assessment and Briefing
GAIA has released a new technical analysis authored by chemical engineers Dr. Andrew Neil Rollinson and Dr. Jumoke Oladejo. The report reveals that chemical recycling is polluting, energy intensive, and has a track record of technical failures, and concludes that it...
read more
Are Businesses Ready to Beat Plastic Pollution?
Millions of tonnes of plastic waste leaks into the world’s oceans every year. Though these are local, the problem of plastic production, waste generation, and plastic pollution is global. Global plastic production has increased steadily and has reached 320 million...
read more
Green businesses and cities at risk: How your waste management plan may be leading you in the wrong direction
Business and cities should be aware that burning waste in any form and by any name is a false path to zero waste, and undermines true sustainability goals.
read moreNew report: waste burning in cement kilns and coal plants exposes businesses and cities to controversy by undermining sustainability goals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 7, 2017, 8:00 am U.S. Eastern Time Full report: no-burn.org/businessatrisk September 7, 2017 - GAIA, an international environmental network, and the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School released a new...
read more
The CAREless carpet industry: A critique of the California Carpet Stewardship Program’s Reliance on Incineration
The planet is literally carpeted with carpet waste and it’s mostly (99%) plastic. Less than 5% of U.S. carpet waste is recycled while 89% is landfilled and about 6% is treated in some form of incinerator. In California, carpet is one of the top ten biggest products in landfills.
read moreCultivating Climate Justice: Stories from Around the World
United across six continents, grassroots groups are defending community rights to clean air, clean water, zero waste, environmental justice, and good jobs. They are all members of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
read moreConcrete Troubles: A GAIA and CEM report about emissions from cement plants in India
In 2010, the Indian Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) released the “Guidelines on Co-processing in Cement/Power/Steel Industry” which gave an official sanction for co-incineration of industrial and municipal wastes in cement plants. This directive will effectively allow cement plants across India to incinerate a range of hazardous, post-production waste from manufacturing and a variety of post consumer municipal waste.
read moreOut of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
New EPA loophole threatens community health, the climate, and local economies by allowing waste burning along with coal
read moreThe Danger of Corporate Landfill Gas-to-Energy Schemes and How to Fix It
This report, in partnership with Recycling Works (a project of GAIA and the Teamsters) and the Sierra Club, examines why organics recycling is an alternative that prevents greenhouse gases and creates jobs.
read moreThe Green Climate Fund and community control
The Green Climate Fund is a new, global institution which is supposed to channel billions of dollars to support climate adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. But it is critically important that communities retain control of which projects get funded.
read moreCelebrating Community: GAIA 10 Report Offers Snapshots of First Decade
GAIA’s first decade ended in December 2010—and we spent 2011 putting together stories and images to share a snapshot of the alliance’s collective work.
GAIA’s values include taking the time to appreciate one another and to celebrate our success and work together. We hope this report, “GAIA 10: 10 Years of Community Action for Zero Waste Solutions,” will be an opportunity for collective reflection and celebration.
read moreNew Report: Half a million new jobs could be created in Europe by recycling more
Brussels, September 14 – At least 500,000 new jobs would be created in Europe if countries recycled 70% of their waste. This is the recycling rate already achieved by Flanders in Belgium.
read moreReport: An Industry Blowing Smoke
10 reasons why gasification, pyrolysis & plasma incineration are not “green solutions”
read morePieces of Zero: Zero Waste Study Tour Report
Pieces of Zero: GAIA Zero Waste Study Tour Report held August 16 to 20, 2009 in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India.
read moregroundWork: Reclaiming Livelihoods – A Report on Wastepickers
This report focuses on the contributions of reclaimers to social and environmental sustainability. It explores the work that reclaimers do, how they use salvaging of commodities from the waste stream as a way to support themselves, and how they are being affected by municipal waste management policies.
read moreMercury Rising: Reducing Global Emissions From Burning Mercury-added Products
The atmospheric mercury (Hg) emissions from waste have long been inadequately understood and seriously underestimated. This report scrutinizes the largest contributor to mercury in the waste stream – mercury-added products – and greatly improves our global understanding of this source of emissions.
read moreWasting the Nation: Making Trash of People and Places
This report by groundWork with forward by Annie Leonard, presents a detailed account of the world’s waste problems today, the people that are affected the most, and the strategies that are needed in order to address the major health and environmental justice issues that increase daily.
read moreReport analyzes leading brands packaging and sustainability
The new report released by As You Sow titled “Waste and Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report”, discusses the billions of waste containers that go wasted each year. Here you can read an article from Waste News discussing the publication and find a link to the report itself on As You Sow’s website.
read moreIncinerators Trash Community Health Report
The incinerator industry often promotes incinerators as having “zero emissions” or as being “safe for community health”. The truth, however, is that all incinerators contaminate people and the environment with toxic and cancer-causing emissions.
read moreStop Trashing the Climate Report Connects Waste and Global Warming
In June activists in countries such as the Philippines, Canada and the United States took action to call attention to the findings of a groundbreaking new report. The Stop Trashing the Climate report, written by GAIA, the Institute for Local Self Reliance and Eco-Cycle, provides compelling evidence that preventing waste and expanding reuse, recycling, and composting programs — that is, aiming for zero waste — is one of the fastest, cheapest, and most effective strategies available for combating climate change.
read moreResources up in Flames Report
Details the economic pitfalls of incineration versus a zero waste approach in the Global South.
read more