-Europe & waste

-Saves resources

-What is it?

• Context
• Objectives
• Activities
• Partners
• Contacts

Context

Sustainable consumption is about consuming differently and efficiently. This project aims at encouraging regions, cities and towns to move towards a more sustainable consumption through an increased involvement in waste prevention and recycling.

One person out of two leaves in cities. Urban structures take in enormous inputs of material and energy and produce large quantities of waste. These require the direct or indirect use of nature for their production or absorption. If the whole human population would have the same lifestyle as Europeans, we would need 3 Earths to satisfy our needs! But we only have one! This raises the question of an equitable access to resources. It also means that our lifestyle is not sustainable.

In this context, the interest of recycling clearly appears. It is a means to reduce waste, and also to consume less material and energy. Considering the entire products' lifecycle allows to go one step further. Reducing waste throughout the lifecycle and improving product efficiency can also contribute to the conservation of resources.

Local and regional authorities have a particular role to play in the sustainable management of resources. They are the public authorities closest to citizens. As such, they can encourage their constituencies to consume differently and efficiently and to participate in recycling schemes.

Objectives

The Sustainable Consumption in Cities project intends:

• to raise awareness of local and regional authorities, and through them, of the general public, on the relations between current ways of life and the consumption of natural resources that are hidden behind the growing urban waste production;
• to raise awareness of local and regional authorities on their potential contribution in moving towards sustainable consumption through waste prevention and recycling,
• to illustrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions of waste prevention at source and recycling through the example of waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) as it is one of the fastest growing waste stream.

Activities

To achieve these objectives, the following activities and tools are developed:

1. a website for local and regional authorities about waste and resources, including 15 good practice cases describe local and regional initiatives for waste prevention at source and dematerialisation.
   More: why a website?
   
   
2. a guide for LRA on the selective collection and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
   Download
   
   
3. a folder to inform decision-makers about the website and the guide on WEEE.
   Download
   
   
4. a Citizens' Parliament on Sustainable Consumption organised on the 14th of March, 2003, in Brussels.
   More: Citizens' Parliament
   
   
5. an exhibition "The Earth, a user's guide - consuming products without waste and recycled products" and its explanatory brochure. 8 European cities host the exhibition between January and September 2003.
   More: Exhibition
   
   
6. an award for sustainable waste and resource management in conjunction with the Sustainable City Award.
   More: Sustainable Cities Award

Partners

The project is based on a multisectoral partnership between:

• regional and local authorities:
  
  • ACRR - Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling as a co-ordinator, 
    
  • CEMR-CCRE - Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the European umbrella organisation for local and regional government. It represents some 100 000 local and regional authorities federated through 46 national associations in 33 countries. Currently presided by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, CEMR acts as the voice of local and regional government in Europe.  
    
  • IBGE-BIM - Brussels Institute for the Management of the Environment, is the administration responsible for the management of the environment in the Region of Brussels-Capital.
    
• electrical and electronic equipment industry: CARE Electronics,
  
  
• social economy federations and enterprises working in re-use and recycling: RREUSE - Re-use and Recycling European Union Social Enterprises.

The touring exhibition involves in addition partnerships with:

• - United Nations Environment Programme
  
  
  
• - United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
  
  
  
• - Consumers International
  
  
• - Agir 21
  
  
• 8 European cities: Liège, Brussels, Lille, Malaga, Porto, Châteauroux, Hampshire County and Milton Keynes

This project has received support from the European Commission - DG Environment through the Community Framework for Co-operation to Promote Sustainable Urban Development. It has been developed over 18 months between January 2002 and June 2003.

Contacts

ACRR - Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling
Gulledelle 100
B - 1200 Brussels Belgium
Tel: +32.2.775.78.57
Fax: +32.2.775.76.35

Francis Radermaker fra@acrr.org
Sophie Marguliew sma@acrr.org
http://www.acrr.org

IBGE-BIM - Brussels Institute for the Management of the Environment
Gulledelle 100
1200 Brussels Belgium
Tel: +322.775.75.75

Joelle van Bambeke: jva@ibgebim.be
http://www.ibgebim.be

CEMR-CCRE - Council of European Municipalities and Regions
22, rue d'Arlon
B - 1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32.2.511.74.77
Fax: +32.2.511.09.49

Lucy Swan: lswan@bxl-ccre.org
http://www.ccre.org

CARE Electronics
C/o SAT - Austrian Society for Systems Engineering and Automation
Albert Schweitzer-Gasse 11
A - 1140 Vienna Austria
Tel: +43.1.786.46.03
Fax: +43.1.786.46.03 - 99

Bernd Kopacek: bernd.kopacek@ihrt.tuwien.ac.at http://www.ihrt.tuwien.ac.at/sat/base/cv2000/index.html

RREUSE - Re-Use and Recycling European Union Social Enterprises
Rue Washington 40
B-1050 Brussels
Tel: +32.2.647.99.95
Fax: +32.2.647.99.95

Mrs Danielle van Kalmthout: info@rreuse.org 
http://www.rreuse.org