Plastic waste: the contribution of municipal waste management to tackle the issue

Almost 40 local practitioners from 13 cities, 9 countries and 4 continents intensively exchanged their experiences on the topic of “plastic waste” and jointly developed solutions and project ideas. They followed the invitation of Connective Cities and the City of Hamburg to a dialogue event on “Plastic Waste – The Contribution of Municipal Waste Management Systems to Tackle the Issue”, which took place from 3 to 5 December 2019 in Hamburg.

Increasing amounts of plastic waste pose challenges for local authorities around the world. Only small quantities can be recycled by type to create closed cycles. But even recycling into lower types of plastic can alleviate landfills and generate income for vulnerable groups. However, avoiding plastic waste is the best option. Therefore, plastic waste is first and foremost a social challenge: changing the behaviour of consumers and producers is crucial.

Based on an exchange of experiences on good practices and projects in the cities implementation challenges were identified and finally eight project ideas were developed for eight cities, which could lead to an improvement of the respective strategies and implementation plans.

The event concluded with three parallel excursions to a waste incineration plant, a sorting station and a waste collection point in Hamburg.