Dear François Jackman, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, and Gerard Anapu, Fellow, President of the United Nations General Assembly Fellowship Programme

The undersigned wish to thank you for Inviting Richard Anthony from the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) to speak at the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on March 30, 2023, as part of the UN celebration of the International Day of Zero Waste. He reported that you heard from other non-government organizations and over 30 Member States' support for Zero Waste and a circular economy. [Click here to view video]

We applaud your leadership in encouraging Zero Waste to be a key strategy for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. In fact, Zero Waste is one of the fastest, most efficient, and lowest-cost ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Burning and burying discarded materials wastes natural resources and habitat, and wastes economic value and good green jobs.

To this end, we would like to encourage the United Nations to adopt the following internationally peer-reviewed definition of Zero Waste and work with ZWIA and other Zero Waste organizations around the globe, to create a just world of vibrant, resilient, Zero Waste communities, in harmony with nature:

Zero Waste: The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.[zwia.org]

We want to assist the United Nations in building on your leadership of declaring March 30th the International Day of Zero Waste and support your Member States and their communities, businesses, and institutions to drive systemic change towards Zero Waste using environmental and social justice principles. 

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