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For Release: Sunday, 1 September 2002
PHOTOS AVAILABLE
Earth Summit
Global Forum on Track for Zero Waste
Contact:
Muna Lakhani, Earthlife Africa, Johannesburg, (mobile) +27-834-717276
Monica Wilson, GAIA, USA, (office) +1-510-524-4000 x104
Gary Liss, Consultant, USA, (office) +1-916-652-7850
Johannesburg,
South Africa, 1 September 2002 -- The Zero Waste Team at the
Earth Summit congratulates the Global Forum for maintaining
an average recycling rate of 72% during the first 4 days of
the Summit. While the overall Earth Summit is reporting recycling
rates of only around 20%, there is wide variety of recycling
rates at the numerous venues. The Global Forum is reporting
the highest waste diversion rates of all Earth Summit venues.
Although
the entire Earth Summit agreed on the principles of Zero Waste,
the Global Forum is the only location that is being directly
supervised by Zero Waste Team members from Earthlife Africa
to organize and implement the necessary waste reduction systems.
The
significantly better waste reduction at the Global Forum is
due to three key differences:
1.
Designed More Waste Out of the System - The Global Forum site
has restricted the use of most plastics (particularly PVC
plastic), while other Earth Summit sites have only restricted
polystyrene.
2.
Diverted Organic Waste - The Global Forum site is diverting
discarded food and other organic materials while other Earth
Summit venues have not. Organics are a vital part of reducing
waste, making up at a minimum 30% of the waste stream. Other
Earth Summit sites are sending organics to landfills.
3.
Invested in Education and Outreach - The Global Forum is actively
promoting the message of Zero Waste with a wide variety of
promotional tools. Posters and notices around the Global Forum
site inform delegates how to segregate their discards into
different bins and what materials are recyclable. Television
monitors throughout the Global Forum remind people every 30
minutes to recycle and join in the Zero Waste effort. Bicyclists
collecting materials from the recycling bins graphically engage
the attendees in seeing an innovative recycling program at
work. And special events and concerts have included the Zero
Waste message. This outreach is crucial because delegates
come from many different backgrounds and have had very different
experiences dealing with waste and recycling.
"At
the Earth Summit Global Forum we are demonstrating that nearing
Zero Waste is possible," said Muna Lakhani, coordinator
of the Zero Waste Earth Summit team for Earthlife Africa in
Johannesburg. "We are disappointed to see other Earth
Summit sites are not meeting their waste reduction goals,
but we hope our example inspires others around the world to
implement Zero Waste programs when they return home."
The
Global Forum is the largest component of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development, also called the Earth Summit;
up to 30,000 delegates are now attending the Global Forum
daily. The Global Forum is located at the Johannesburg Expo
Centre (NASREC). Interested media representatives are encouraged
to visit NASREC.
The
Zero Waste Team is a combined effort of nonprofits Earthlife
Africa and GAIA working together with UN and South African
Summit organizers to organize the Earth Summit as a Zero Waste
event. Earthlife Africa is a volunteer driven South African
organization that has been active on environmental and social
issues since 1988. GAIA is an international alliance working
on waste reduction, with over 265 members in more than 55
countries. For more information, photographs of the bicycle
collection systems and colorful recycling drop-off bins, updates,
as well as articles about the waste problems following the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, please see www.earthlife.org.za
and www.no-burn.org
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