Our latest report, “A toxic legacy: Bottom ash in Europe’s circular economy”, exposes the environmental and health risks linked to the growing use of incinerator bottom ash (IBA) in construction materials across Europe. The report finds that IBA contains hazardous substances, including heavy metals, PFAS (“forever chemicals”), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and microplastics, which can leach into soil and water over time. It warns that promoting IBA as a “circular” material risks spreading pollution, locking Europe into waste incineration, and undermining the transition to a truly non-toxic circular economy.
Drawing on evidence from across Europe, the report calls for stronger EU rules, precautionary approaches, and policies that prioritise waste prevention and safe material management.
Full report and executive summary available in English.
This report examines whether bringing waste incineration into the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) could trigger a shift back to landfill across Europe. It finds that, under current legal and economic conditions, this risk is low: in most Member States, landfill restrictions, taxes and contractual arrangements already limit any return to disposal.
The report argues that including incineration in the EU ETS can support climate goals and a move up the waste hierarchy, especially alongside stronger implementation of the Landfill Directive and measures to reduce residual waste.
Full report and executive summary available in English, and Polish.
Air quality is a key social, economic and environmental factor within the EU, as pollutants such as ground-level ozone (O₃) have significant impacts on human health, the environment and public costs. This new report, commissioned by the Methane Matters coalition, analyses the health and environmental effects of ozone exposure across the EU and selected Member States, based on the best available data from 2022. It also examines the role of methane (CH₄) in ozone formation and assesses the extent to which methane mitigation could help reduce ozone concentrations.
The findings show that ozone limit values continue to be exceeded in many regions of the EU, highlighting the need for complex, cross-sectoral policy measures. Overall, the report provides a robust evidence base to support policy action to improve air quality and protect human health and ecosystems.
Available in English.
Zero Waste Europe and Reloop’s new report, Marginalising waste: A trading scheme to reduce residuals, sets out a bold new idea for EU waste policy: an EU-wide cap-and-trade system to cut residual municipal waste – the waste that remains after prevention, reuse, and recycling.
Instead of pushing waste from landfill to incineration, the proposed scheme would put a binding limit on total residuals, creating a strong incentive for waste prevention, reuse, refill, and high-quality recycling. The report also explains why major mineral and combustion wastes should be treated separately, and outlines how a fair, per-capita system could work in practice across Member States, supported by robust monitoring and verification.
Available in English.
Zero Waste Europe and the Rethink Plastic alliance have identified key principles and safeguards for clear, consistent, and enforceable end-of-waste (EoW) criteria, anchored in protecting human health and the environment.
The development of EoW criteria is a tool to support the transition towards the circular economy by developing a new recycling market at the European level and harmonising the different approaches among Member States.
Driven by the need for transparency, traceability, clarity, enforceability, and non-toxicity, this report outlines the general rules for EoW, with two specific sections on plastics and textiles.
Available in English.
The 2025 edition of the European Reuse Barometer includes data from 115 reuse companies across Europe, making it the most comprehensive survey on reusable packaging models to date.
Authored by InOff Plastic with support from Zero Waste Europe (through the ReuSe Vanguard Project), New ERA – New European Reuse Alliance, and Planet Reuse, the European Reuse Barometer compiles economic, social and operational data from reuse programmes across retail, e-commerce, hospitality, and transport packaging. The report tracks return rates, funding needs, and business models across reusable systems, demonstrating how reuse is scaling up and making an impact.
Available in English.
The latest biomonitoring report by ToxicoWatch shows that air filters in schools in Ivry-Sur-Seine (Paris) contained PFAS, dioxins, and other dangerous chemicals linked to areas in close vicinity of waste incinerators.
The biomonitoring research in Ivry-Sur-Seine found dioxins in school filters and dust; dixion-like PCBs which were legally banned decades ago; and PAHs, a chemical also found in cigarette smoke. It also found levels of PFAs in air filter dust exponentially above the EU safety limits.
The report underlines the findings of previous biomonitoring reports carried out in communities near waste incinerators across Europe (see The True Toxic Toll page), showing that waste incineration emissions contaminate nearby air, water, and vegetation – putting human health and the environment at risk.
Available in English and French.
The Layman’s Report provides a visual summary of the LIFE BIOBEST project’s objectives, activities and results alongside photos, infographics and outputs for continued use in the project’s afterlife.
Available in English.
D6.4 Communication and dissemination final report provides a review and an evaluation of the communication efforts of the LIFE BIOBEST project from M1 to M30, including timelines over all communication activities undertaken during the project and an overview of all communication and dissemination results.
Annex: Layman’s Report provides a visual summary of the project’s objectives, activities and results alongside photos, infographics and outputs for continued use in the project’s afterlife.
Available in English.
The LIFE BIOBEST D7.3 Exploitation and sustainability strategy defines the afterlife activities (translation, promotion, elaboration, etc.) that will continue in terms of exploitable results and exploitation route after the closure of LIFE BIOBEST. Alongside D7.2 Transferability and replicability strategy, these reports include actions to promote and achieve the adoption of proposed solutions, strategies and usage of the tools created in the framework of the project.
Available in English.
The LIFE BIOBEST D7.2 Transferability and replicability strategy gathers the dissemination strategy, the instruments used and the actions carried out by the project from M1 to M26, as well as the results obtained in terms of quantitative impacts.
Available in English.
D5.1 Decision support trees function as a tool for municipalities and regional authorities to evaluate their specific difficulties and context. Following a preliminary self-assessment, the decision support trees disaggregate barriers that inhibit bio-waste implementation, pairing them with resources and recommendations from LIFE BIOBEST outputs.
Annex: Decision Support Tree Tool integrates the self-assessment checklists, including a scoring feature, and decision support trees into excel format with interactive navigation. Based on the responses, the Excel form directs the user from the assessment to the barriers and, finally, to LIFE BIOBEST recommendations.
Available in English.
This report critically examines the European Commission’s JRC study on plastic recycling technologies, exposing major methodological flaws that favour chemical recycling. It challenges the credibility of industry-backed data and highlights the true environmental costs of solvent- and pyrolysis-based methods. With clear recommendations for policymakers, it calls for science-based, transparent assessments to guide sustainable recycling strategies.
Available in English.
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).
Italian and Slovenian chapters available in German.
This biomonitoring report by ToxicoWatch and supported by Zero Waste Europe reveals dangerously high levels of dioxins, PFAS, and heavy metals around the Zubieta Waste-to-Energy incinerator in Spain. Samples from backyard eggs, moss, soil, and water show widespread contamination, with one egg recording the highest dioxin levels in Europe in over a decade. The findings raise serious concerns about ongoing emissions and call for urgent action to protect environmental and public health.
Available in English.
This biomonitoring report by ToxicoWatch, supported by Zero Waste Europe and Collectif 3R, reveals high levels of dioxins, PFAS, and heavy metals in vegetation, moss, and soil around the Ivry-sur-Seine incinerator in Paris. Samples taken from schools and public areas show widespread contamination, with some dioxin levels exceeding EU safety limits. These findings align with earlier public health alerts and underline the urgent need for tighter emission controls and environmental monitoring across urban incineration zones.
Available in English and Croatian.
This biomonitoring report by ToxicoWatch’s, supported by Zero Waste Europe, uncovers worrying levels of dioxins, PFAS, and heavy metals near the Harlingen Waste-to-Energy incinerator. Backyard chicken eggs, soil, moss, and water samples show significant contamination—PFAS levels in ditch water were 138 times above Dutch drinking water limits, and dioxins in eggs exceeded EU thresholds. These findings, spanning over a decade of research, highlight the urgent need to investigate pollution sources and resume continuous emissions monitoring at the REC facility.
Available in English.
This report by Zero Waste Europe and Za Zemiata reveals major misreporting in Bulgaria’s plastic packaging waste data. While official stats claim 50.6% recycling, over half of municipalities report below 10%. Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) are underreporting waste flows by up to 30%, echoing similar issues in Spain. As such, both organisations are demanding EU-level oversight to enforce transparency and real recycling targets. Accurate data is essential for a true circular economy.
Available in English.