Elevating Reuse in Cities (ERIC)
“Cities can, and should, become the incubators and vectors for scaling up reuse in Europe. They certainly have a leading role to play in the fight against plastic waste. However, we still lack a better understanding of the conditions that enable reuse to flourish in these communities. Our ERIC project will provide concrete answers to this question, helping to inspire and guide the replication of reuse models in cities around the world.”
Manon Jourdan, Implementation Officer at Zero Waste Europe and ERIC Project Coordinator
About ERIC
Elevating Reuse in Cities (ERIC) is a two-year project launched in April 2022 that aims to support 18 to 30 EU municipalities to embed waste prevention locally, through the creation of Plastic Prevention Plans (PPPs) that target and implement reuse actions within their direct sphere of public control – which includes public events, buildings (e.g. municipal facilities, gyms), spaces (e.g. streets, squares, parks) and through procurement tenders.
ERIC involves local implementation of activities by 10 member organisations of Zero Waste Europe.
Main strategies and outcomes:
- Actively train and help support our local groups involved in this project to become reuse specialists, building on their existing zero waste expertise – which will help them to design and implement successful plastic prevention plans together with the targeted cities, as well as effectively monitor the impact of the policies introduced on the reduction of the plastic waste generated locally.
- At least 18 to 30 single-use plastic prevention plans (PPPs) are created in a targeted group of European municipalities, with measures focusing primarily on what falls directly within their immediate sphere of control – public procurement, events, buildings and spaces.
- Mobilise the municipalities within our network ahead of key political moments (Global Plastic Treaty, EU’s Packaging Waste Directive) to lobby for ambitious reuse legislation, using examples implemented locally as part of this project as best practices, that set the ambition and direction for reuse to scale up in the years to come.
Municipalities involved in the project:
- Bulgaria: Gabrovo and Svilengrad
- Belgium: Commune of Jette and city of Brussels
- Croatia: Zagreb and Krk Island
- Cyprus: Nicosia and Ypsonas
- Czech Republic: Ořechov, Kostice, Majetín and Těrlicko
- France: Lyon and Nantes
- Italy: Carmignano, Viareggio and Calatafimi Segesta
- Slovenia: Gorenja Vas- Poljane, Laško, Zreče, Vrhnika, Bled, and Gorje
- Slovakia: Partizánske, Úľany nad Žitavou and Košeca
- Spain: Torrelles de Llobregat and Viladecans
If you are interested in learning more about ERIC or explore ways to collaborate with the project, don’t hesitate to reach out to the project coordinators – Manon Jourdan and Jack McQuibban
Project partners
Project partners
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Zero Waste Europe (coordinator) -
Ecologists without borders -
Friends of the Earth Cyprus -
Friends of the Earth - SPZ Slovakia -
Hnuti Duha (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic) -
Rezero -
Za Zemiata - Friends of the Earth Bulgaria -
Zelena Akcija - Friends of the Earth Croatia -
Zero Waste Belgium -
Zero Waste France -
Zero Waste Italy
Latest updates
Calatafimi Segesta promotes a future without single-use plastics on World Environment Day
Transforming cities with the ERIC project: Paving the way to zero waste
Creating Prevention Pioneers: Insights from our training on plastic prevention and reuse strategies in Berlin
Launch of ‘ERIC’ project empowers local authorities to prevent plastic waste production
Get in touch
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Manon JourdanImplementation Officer at Zero Waste Europe and ERIC Project Coordinator -
Jack McQuibbanHead of Local Zero Waste Implementation at Zero Waste Europe -
Giulia LodiCommunications & Network Officer at Zero Waste Europe
Funded by
Zero Waste Europe gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from the Plastic Solutions Fund. The sole responsibility for the content of this project lies with the authoring organisations. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the funder mentioned above. The funder cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.