Back to Earth: Composting for Various Contexts

With organics making up more than 50% of solid waste in Asia, managing this waste stream will have a huge impact on waste management and the reduction of methane emissions. 

With superb illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions, “Back to Earth” encourages people to explore every facet of composting: whether in a sprawling backyard or in a limited space such as a high-rise apartment, composting can be customized to suit any situation. 

The most important message, however, is that composting is a simple and yet effective step anyone can take to help alleviate the burden on our landfills, replenish soil nutrients, and reduce carbon and methane emissions. 


Zero waste is a crucial component of a regenerative economy with the potential to safeguard public health, create good jobs, support local economies, and mitigate climate change.

The U.S. approach to dealing with waste has created a division in our society that treats some people, particularly low-income and people of color communities, as disposable. The Zero Waste Masterplan is a one-stop-shop for activists, policymakers, and sustainability professionals on how to lead their cities towards a just and equitable zero waste future.

Zero Waste Europe released a report highlighting the importance of a Zero Waste Circular Economy in the post-COVID-19 recovery. The “Sustainable Finance for a Zero Waste Circular Economy (ZWCE)” report addresses the current lack of clarity around the concept of ZWCE. It provides clear criteria on the activities that need to be included and prioritised under the umbrella of the Sustainable Finance by looking at the social, economic, climate, and environmental benefits. (2020)

This toolkit is for policymakers, sustainability professionals, environmental advocates, and grassroots organizers leading their cities into a green and just future through zero waste. (2020)

This briefing paper presents a list of Zero Waste policy recommendations for local government officials as well as for national officials and policy makers in the Philippines. The aim is to provide local and national decision- and policy-makers with a set of sustainable options that they can pursue when they lay out management systems for municipal solid waste in their areas of influence.

Businesses that attempt to meet sustainability goals through programs like “waste-to-energy,” “zero waste to landfill,” or “refuse derived fuel” undermine their own intentions by burning up valuable resources in polluting processes.This report addresses the problems with burning waste, and recommends that businesses pursue true zero waste strategies and sustainability goals.

Zero Waste is a move away from this unsustainable linear industrial system into a circular system—a system where unnecessary extraction and consumption is minimized, where waste is reduced, and where products and materials are reused or recycled back into the
market.

In Zero Waste, the resources that we use can be safely and economically recycled, reused, and composted, or turned into biogas anaerobic digestion. Zero Waste also means avoiding the use of disposable products and redesigning products that are toxic-free and built to last. Zero Waste involves:
• Reducing consumption
• Reusing discards
• Product redesign
• Shift to alternative delivery systems
• Comprehensive recycling
• A ban on waste incineration
• Comprehensive composting or biodigestion of organic materials
• Citizen and worker participation
• Policies, regulations, incentives, and financing structures to support these systems

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