Meet our members – Special Edition – Meet the Board of Zero Waste Europe

Zero Waste Europe is happy to introduce the blog series “Meet our members”. Through this series of monthly interviews, we want to give you a chance to get to know our members and the work they are doing.

This month, for another special edition of our “Meet our members” series, we are thrilled to introduce you to our Zero Waste Europe Board – Rossano Ercolini, Xiaowei Liu, Huub Scheele, Elena Rastei, and Antigone Dalamaga.

Hello, ZWE Board! Can you tell us a bit about the role of the Board at ZWE? What does it entail?

The Board is responsible for sticking to all legal requirements; ensuring that our finances are solid; and making sure our strategic plans are ambitious and visionary (and a bit realistic). We represent the membership and function as a sparring partner for the staff of the organisation.

Tell us more about one ongoing project/activity you’re working on.

One important activity, in which Xiaowei is involved on behalf of the Board, is making sure that ZWE as an organisation is a safe and healthy place to work for all staff – cherishing the diversity of the network and valuing development opportunities for all those employed. She is doing the same at international level for GAIA, our mother network, as part of the Culture Keepers group. 

If there was one thing that you would like Zero Waste Europe to be known for, what would it be? 

ZWE should be known for changing the narrative from fighting waste and incinerators to developing the world for a zero waste society, where a circular economy is replacing our throwaway and “business as usual” model of development. 

How would you describe the growth of the Zero Waste Europe movement in the past years? What is your perspective for the future?

ZWE has grown from a two-person kitchen table initiative in Barcelona and Manchester to a solid organisation with 20+ staff members and a professional office in Brussels. We have increased the membership, covering much of Europe, and we have boosted the support to our member organisations. At the same time, we increasingly support and facilitate other networks and partner organisations – administratively as well as in advocating for better policies. In the future, while we might keep growing, we will need to make sure we keep a good balance between supporting our members, sticking to our own mission and goals, and facilitating a much wider network of partners.