[GreenYes] Greenpeace UK launches Zero Waste Campaign

["Bill Sheehan" <zerowaste@grrn.org>]

Greenpeace UK has launched a Zero Waste Campaign 
to counter the lurch towards incineration in England.  
Below is the first page of the campaign web section 
at www.greenpeace.org.uk/.  The site has several 
community reports.


The Zero Waste campaign

Zero Waste is the solutions part of Greenpeace's campaign 
to stop the incineration of rubbish. Zero Waste means 
exactly what it says: If we put our minds to it we could 
become a waste free society. It won't happen overnight, but 
the steps needed to reduce the amount of rubbish we 
create by at least 75% are quite straightforward. We just 
need to get started. 
 
There is no question that a waste crisis is looming in the 
UK, but neither burning nor continuing to bury mixed rubbish 
is the answer. 
 
Greenpeace wants every local authority in the UK to reject 
incineration and embrace a Zero Waste Strategy which 
treats the majority of our waste as the resource it is: 
compostable kitchen and garden waste, recyclable paper, 
glass and metal, reusable textiles and household items. We 
want local authorities to be imaginative and innovative, 
taking us on a path towards zero waste - or very close. 
 
Incineration is a dirty, polluting Victorian technology and it 
has no place in the 21st century. (For a fuller explanation of 
the problems associated with incineration, click here for the 
PDF document 'Money to Burn'.) 
 
Anyone who says incineration is necessary is either lying or 
misinformed. Zero Waste campaigners can prove this. 
 
We want an end to pollution from both incinerators and 
landfills. 
 
We want every local authority in the UK to provide: 
-- separate kerbside collection of our kitchen waste and our garden waste 
-- kerbside collection of our newspapers, card, mixed paper and textiles 
-- kerbside collection of glass and metal.

We want the waste left over to undergo one of the readily 
available mechanical-biological treatments to make it safer 
and reduce its volume. With all these steps fully implemented 
the existing demand for landfill can be reduced by up to 
80%. The small amount of remaining neutralised and 
relatively inert material can and should be sent to landfill.
 
We want leadership from central Government in funding 
innovative resource recovery schemes and in strongly 
promoting recycling and markets for recycled products. 
Greenpeace UK launches Zero Waste Campaign.

******************************************
To post to the greenyes list,
email to: greenyes@grrn.org

Subscription information for
this list is available here:
http://www.grrn.org/general/greenyes.html
******************************************