Below we delve into the relationship between some of the SDGs and the Zero Waste movement:

SDG 2. zero hunger

In 2011 the FAO estimated that Every year a third of the world’s food is wasted. The UN goal is to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.

For this, actions are necessary in the fight against food waste throughout the entire chain. Because it cannot be that a third of the food is wasted in a world where millions of people still go hungry. It is a question of resource efficiency but above all of humanitarian and climate justice.

According to FAO data, food waste represents a loss of 730 million euros per year and causes 8 % of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Zero Waste actions against food waste

• Cooking and use recipes
• Local and seasonal consumption
• Learn the best way to preserve food
• Doggy bags para los restaurantes para llevarte las sobras a casa
• Composting promotion
• Transition towards a more plant-based diet with a lower environmental footprint

SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities

Half of the world’s population already lives in urban areas, a figure that will increase to 60% in 2030 and close to 70% in 2050 according to UN projections. These urban areas will consume more than half of the world’s resources.

One of the ways to achieve resilient communities is reduce your external dependence thanks to a more efficient use of resources that already circulate within the community.

Materials such as organic waste, plastics, tires, electronic waste or even fecal waste can once again become resources for the community itself with the correct system that guarantees and encourages its optimal recovery and processing.

In this way and as defended by the Circular Economy, we have the opportunity to empower communities to move from a scenario where resources are sources of public spending, health risk and lack of space, to a scenario in which the different Byproducts are valuable to the community itself and contribute to satisfying its needs, creating a local economy and reducing greenhouse emissions and economic dependence on the outside world.

Zero Waste actions for more sustainable communities

• Community composting to take advantage of organic waste
• Waste collection and revaluation projects such as Plastic Bank
• Resource libraries such as Libraries of things
• Green points and local recycling centers
• Repair services such as Repair Cafés
• Fixed and itinerant markets for local and seasonal products
• Education and access to reusable menstrual hygiene products such as the cup, cloth pads and menstrual panties at affordable prices
• Awareness and community outreach campaigns on reduction, reuse and prevention

SDG 12: Sustainable production and consumption

The eleventh goal of the UN is to guarantee sustainable consumption and production patterns.

The “throwaway” culture and single-use products are large consumers of resources and large generators of waste.

Opting for durable, repairable, reusable and 100% recyclable products once again a more efficient use of our unlimited recursos.

For it, concepts such as ecodesign and the end of planned obsolescence are important.

Sustainable consumption and production is about doing more and better with less. It is also about decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, increasing resource efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles..

Sustainable consumption and production can also contribute substantially to poverty alleviation and the transition to green and low-carbon economies.

SDG 12 – United Nations

Zero Waste actions for sustainable consumption

• Reduce material needs
• Opt for durable, repairable, reusable and 100% recyclable and toxic-free products
• Maximize the useful life of products
• Repair whenever possible
• Re-use
• Compost organic matter whenever possible
• Bet on local and seasonal products
• Reduce and reject single-use products
• Bet on exchange and second hand

SDG 14 and 15: Protection of underwater life and terrestrial ecosystems

In the case of plastics alone, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated in a report in 2017 that at the current rate of production and use of these materials, in 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the Ocean.

The environmental impact of waste on ecosystems is a growing and well-known problem. Although plastic is perhaps the best-known case, it is not the only one: those derived from the mining or textile industries are equally alarming.

Firstly, reducing waste generation is the first step to prevent waste from ending up in natural ecosystems.

Secondly, guaranteeing its correct recovery and management contributes to closing the circuit and

One of the main reasons why tons of waste are abandoned in nature is that they are seen as worthless garbage.

Zero Waste actions for the protection of ecosystems

• Avoid single-use products
• Cleaning actions such as Beach Cleanups and plogging

Sustainability is a transversal element of all the SDGs and the efficient use of resources is a key piece

These are some of the objectives of the movement
Zero Waste:

• Reduce waste generation to the maximum
• Apply the expanded 3 “R” hierarchy: rethink, redesign, reject, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle…
• Promote reuse over throwaway options
• Exercise the right to repair what has been damaged
• Avoid food waste
• Bet on composting organic matter
• Avoid the use of toxic products
• Reduce plastic pollution in all its forms and causes
• Opt for local products with low environmental impact
• Maximize the useful life of things

• The best waste is the one that is not generated
• Before recycling you have to reuse and before reusing you have to reduce
• The transition from a linear economic model to a circular one
• Shift perspective from “waste” to “resources”
• The importance of composting for the reuse of all organic matter
• The fight against food waste

• Improving the energy efficiency of appliances
• Reducing food waste
• Better resource management
• Raising consumer awareness about more sustainable lifestyles
• Provide truthful and appropriate information to empower consumers
• Reduce food waste as it is estimated that one third of the world’s food is wasted