Linking circular economy and climate change mitigation: the carbon footprint of municipal waste

Since 2019, ACR+ has been running the 'More circularity, less carbon' campaign, aiming to support several cities and regions among ACR+ members in assessing the carbon footprint of municipal waste and determining priorities to reduce the associated carbon emissions. To achieve this, ACR+ partnered with its member Zero Waste Scotland to use a tool that goes beyond weight-based waste measurement: the Carbon Metrics International (CMI). The CMI helps decision-makers understand how waste prevention measures can contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.

Seven ACR+ members participated in the campaign and analysed the carbon footprint of their municipal waste: the Pays de la Loire Region, the City of Genoa, the Brussels-Capital Region, the City of Odense, Ireland, the Province of Navarra, and the City of Belfast. Overall, the carbon footprints of municipal waste show strong similarities across all territories, allowing for some preliminary conclusions. In particular, the embodied impact of waste is much more significant than the emissions linked with waste collection, treatment, and recovery.

This webinar will share the lessons learned from the 'More circularity, less carbon' campaign. It will demonstrate that cities and regions are crucial players in reducing the carbon footprint of several key sectors by implementing ambitious yet feasible actions to prevent waste, extend the lifetime of products, and close the loops of materials.

ACR+ will be joined by representatives from participating territories, developers of Carbon Metrics International, and experts in the field to present and discuss the results of the campaign. Two participating territories will each share their journey: one will explain how the campaign helped promote new prevention targets and actions on food waste, while the other will highlight the strong connection made with climate change in its new Waste Plan.