Insights from the 2026 edition of the Zero Waste Cities conference in Slovakia
At the end of March, I had the pleasure of attending the annual Zero Waste Cities conference for municipalities, wonderfully organised by our colleagues in Slovakia, Friends of the Earth – SPZ (FoE – SPZ).
Departing from Brussels, following one night train, two day trains, two buses and a shared car ride with the organisers, we arrived in Úľany nad Žitavou, a municipality of approximately 1,500 citizens in the south-west of Slovakia. Why here? Úľany nad Žitavou is one of the four Slovak candidate cities of the Mission Zero Academy (MiZA), the world’s first zero waste cities certification; a municipality that has taken the pledge and is currently taking concrete steps to become zero waste.
This year, 59 Slovak mayors and city representatives came together at the conference to hear from experts and their peers who have already started their zero waste journey, to get inspired, share experiences and most importantly, understand what actionable steps they can take to improve waste management in their own municipality.
Photographer: René Říha
In the spirit of zero waste, the mayor from Chocholná-Velčice, another MiZA candidate city, brought with him mineral water in refillable jugs straight from his town’s spring. Vegan and vegetarian refreshments were provided from local businesses, and there wasn’t a single-use plastic cup or plate in sight at the municipal building where the conference took place, showing us that municipalities can organise a zero waste event with relative ease.
The day started with the chairperson of Foe – SPZ, Branislav Moňok, presenting how a municipality can start its zero waste journey, including the actions are within its direct scope of influence. From ‘newer’ measures such as banning single-use at municipal events, installing ‘libraries of things’ and reusable nappy starter packs for new parents, to the cornerstones of local zero waste systems such as community composting, door-to-door collection (D2D) of recyclables and pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems for residual waste, Braňo’s main message was simple: real solutions are different for different municipalities, and if a municipality is ready to make a change, he and his colleagues are always ready to lend a helping hand.
As the day went on, moderated by the manager of Slovakia’s Zero Waste Cities programme Lenka Beznáková, we heard about chemical recycling from FoE-SPZ’s Monika Medovičová, who presented the intricacies of chemical recycling and why municipalities need to be aware of them. We also heard from our host, the mayor of Úľany nad Žitavou, about the progress his town has made under the MiZA certification and meticulous support from FoE-SPZ.
Photographer: René Říha
One of his main points was the importance of focusing on kitchen waste, even in a setting where one would expect many people to have farm animals and at-home composts, and therefore little to no food scraps. The opposite turned out to be true in their case. He also presented a new idea for his town: building a public well with a water filter to be used by citizens, who complain about the taste of the drinking water in Úľany nad Žitavou and end up buying bottled water instead. This could lead to a significant reduction in single-use plastics in the town.
After lunch, we reconvened for presentations on the state of zero waste in other places in Europe. We shared some best practice examples from cities that are further along on their journey, such as the municipality of Hernani in the Basque Country, and spoke about their learnings and inspirations. Important topics were door-to-door collection complemented by a pay-as-you-throw system. Following this, we came back to the local context in Slovakia in a moment of celebration of the four Slovak municipalities that have made their commitments for a zero waste future; apart from our hosts, Úľany nad Žitavou, we also had the pleasure of welcoming the mayors of Chocholná-Velčice, Košeca, and a representative of the town Partizánske, to present them with their well-deserved awards as MiZA candidate cities, as they have shown themselves to be true pioneers.
Photographer: René Říha
The last part of the day was spent in discussion, where the audience was able to ask questions to the four mayors, as well as the representatives of FoE-SPZ and myself. Failures and successes were shared, and time and time again, we came back to two crucial points: that prevention and reduction are key, and that if an object cannot be reused, repaired or recycled, it should not be produced in the first place.
The mayors also shared two major areas of focus for their cities today: bio-waste and textiles. While in the case of bio-waste, they pointed out that solutions are many and it is possible to reach zero waste through correct sorting and treatment, textiles will be a much more complex issue going forward. Something that very much echoes in our work at Zero Waste Europe, especially in the STICT project.
My hope is that when we all meet in Slovakia again next year, we will be a few steps closer to solving this complex puzzle, and we will be doing so with many more Slovak municipalities in the Zero Waste Cities Certification.
