Despite some progress made in the past 20 years, material resource and waste management are still underperforming in Europe. Domestic material consumption has been stable for the last 15 years.  There are still significant differences among and within Member State regarding the performances of waste management systems. There is a strong potential to decrease material consumption and the associated environmental impacts through high quality recycling. Yet, the potential benefits of prevention and re-use are much more significant.

This thematic area mostly focuses on the implementation of the waste hierarchy, taking the larger perspective of material resource flows. Pursuing the work of ACR+ Waste Observatory, it aims to keep on identifying best practices for waste management, but also prevention and re-use, applicable in specific context, through consistent comparisons and benchmarks.

This thematic area is open only to ACR+ members. If you are not a member and would like to join or know more about its activities, please contact us.