The next step in the global green saga may be the ratification of a universally recognized definition of zero waste.
Environmental advocates from Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) have collaborated on a zero-waste resolution proposal, and the groupґs desire is clear, no matter the locale: Letґs take it to the world stage.
Richard Anthony, chair of ZWIA, said the alliance hopes to get the resolution accepted by the United Nations during the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which begins June 20 in Rio de Janeiro.
Public and private sector representatives from around the world will converge on the city as the U.N. marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit, which also took place in Rio.
The resolution was reviewed by numerous ZWIA member groups, including Zero Waste UK, Zero Waste Europe, Zero Waste Italy and Zero Waste Australia. The document received unanimous approval, Anthony said.
“I have to believe that any policy-maker, at this point, that is working on international environmental policy would have to see zero waste as a no-brainer,” he said. “Itґs better to put everything back in circulation. A key part of the definition is zero waste means ґno burn, no bury.ґ The key for us is to get this to go viral.”
The alliance is listed as an observer of the conference and is waiting to hear if the U.N. will take action.
Even if the document doesnґt make it to the floor, Anthony said the alliance will push for resource managers and local and national governments to embrace it, to prove there is “worldwide consensus on this definition.”
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Source: Waste & Recycling News
By Vince Bond Jr.