Munich to become “zero waste city”

Munich’s Lord Mayor, Dieter Reiter, has announced plans to become a zero waste city, with the aim of cutting out all single-use plastics by 2025. Reiter met with renowned expert Dr. Henning Wilts from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy earlier this year, as part of his “Munich Future Dialogue”, to discuss a comprehensive waste strategy for the city. The results and objectives were then presented in a joint press conference held in Munich’s City Hall at the end of October.

The proposal focuses on several key strategies, including:

• Sustainable public procurement
• Reducing plastic use in urban facilities
• Targeting consumer behaviour to reduce reliance on plastic
• Reaching out to large chains to reduce single-use items

The city has also discussed implementing a special quality label, so that consumers can easily identify businesses that are especially resource efficient, as this adds an extra incentive to comply with any voluntary measures that are put in place.

Munich is not the only German city with zero waste ambitions: Kiel has already taken steps to become a member of Zero Waste Europe, a European Union supported initiative, in spring 2020.