The zero waste concept in the European Union

Abstract

The subject of the article is an analysis of the zero waste concept implemented by the European Union. This strategy is fully complementary to the EU's environmental and climate policies. Currently, environmental issues play an important role in public policy not only at the EU level, therefore it is important to take a closer look at the zero waste concept. The main research problem is the answer to the question about the function of the zero waste concept in the European Union. The solution will be sought by analysing the actions underlying the vision of resource efficiency and discussing EU legislative initiatives to bring the transition to a circular economy closer. The article includes the main assumptions of the zero waste concept and the EU's resource-efficiency strategy. It also presents activities that fulfil the tenets of zero-waste living. The next parts of the article include the analysis of the EU legislation related to the zero waste vision. There will be presented the existing legislative regulations in the European Union. Furthermore, there will be indicated the institutions responsible for the implementation of the zero waste strategy.

Keywords

• zero waste
• environmental protection
• climate change
• circular economy
• resource efficiency