The State of Zero Waste Municipalities – 5th edition

The State of Zero Waste Municipalities is the most comprehensive overview yet of the work happening in Europe with municipalities to accelerate our transition towards zero waste. Furthermore, it includes updates from global regions about the progress being made with zero waste cities around the world, from Accra to Santiago.

The report also takes a deep dive into four of Europe’s best practice policies regarding textile waste, given its central focus for most municipalities today since the new introduction of the mandatory separate collection requirement at the start of 2025.

This fifth edition of this report takes a much stronger look at waste prevention measures being implemented in European cities. For example with Tallinn, who has achieved a 92% return rate for reusable tableware at city events and established over 10 municipal reuse and repair hubs. Or Komunala Škofja Loka in Slovenia, who have prevented 23,000 single-use cups with their rental service in 2024. Similarly, Zagreb has seen landfilling drop by 20% and separate waste collection rise by 50%, partly due to measures like banning single-use plastics in public buildings and increased door-to-door collection of materials.

We are more confident than ever in the power of stories to change the world. After reading the stories in this report, we hope you’re inspired to begin writing your own.

Full report available in English.

Country chapters available in their national languages (subject to ongoing translation requests).