The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) is an initiative to promote the implementation of awareness-raising actions on sustainable resource and waste management during one week in November. This year it falls during the week of the ALL4PACK Emballage Paris trade fair.

It’s a happy coincidence. While ALL4PACK Emballage Paris is taking place with its theme on how to make the packaging and logistics sector more sustainable, the EU initiative – the European Week for Waste Reduction – gives even greater resonance to the efforts undertaken by ALL4PACK Emballage Paris. The EWWR takes place this year from 19 to 27 November.

Created in 2019, the EWWR is organised each year by the public authorities responsible for waste reduction. Its founding members are ACR+, the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management; AICA, the International Association for Environmental Communication (Italy); ARC, the Catalan Waste Agency (Catalonia, Spain), Bruxelles Environnement/Leefmilieu Brussel (Belgium), NWMD, the National Directorate of Waste Management (Hungary) and ADEME, the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management.

Engage all European actors

Its main objective is to encourage more and more European countries to participate in this major environmental event.

The objective of the European Week for Waste Reduction is based on the waste hierarchy. The actions implemented during the EWWR focus on the “3Rs”. Reduction of consumption, Reuse of products and materials and Recycling of waste. These are the main R’s (although there are many more) to keep in mind when re-evaluating consumption habits.

An annual EWWR awards ceremony is therefore organised to recognise the most outstanding actions carried out during each edition of the EWWR. A jury composed of European professionals working in the environmental sector selects the finalists and winners from among the many actions carried out during the EWWR. The award ceremony is a unique opportunity to highlight some of the most committed EWWR action embassadors.

Textiles, the main theme of the EWWR 2022

A variety of actors – citizens, schools, companies, NGOs, associations – are organising activities to raise awareness about this essential waste reduction.

Textiles have been chosen as the main theme of the EWWR 2022.  The fashion industry is one of the most polluting in the world, emitting more greenhouse gases than international flights and maritime traffic combined. Numerous actions will therefore be carried out to raise consumer awareness of the issues surrounding the over-consumption of clothes, as they are a source of environmental damage.

Of course, the focus on textiles is far from the packaging issues discussed during the All4Pack Emballage Paris exhibition. But all these efforts are going in the same direction. Making the planet better for the future generations by stopping the waste of essential resources. The coincidence of the dates of All4Pack Emballage Paris and the EWWR is a clear sign of awareness of the impact our actions have on the environment.