Tehran – Zero Waste International Day is observed annually on March 30th and promotes the Zero Waste initiative to promote all the goals and goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
These goals address all forms of waste, including food loss and waste, natural resource extraction, and e-waste.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Residential Programme (UN-HABITAT) jointly promote compliance with zero waste international days.
Humanity’s unsustainable production and consumption practices drive the planet towards destruction.
Every year, the Zero Waste International Day is celebrated under different themes, urging humanity to urgently deal with the waste crisis.
This year’s theme, “Zero Waste in Fashion and Textiles” emphasizes the need for action in the fashion and textile sectors to reduce waste and advance circulation solutions.
The rapid growth of textile production and consumption outweighs sector sustainability efforts, causing serious environmental, economic and social impacts, particularly in the global South. Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015, but 92 million tons of textile waste is produced globally. This is equivalent to a garbage truck full of incinerated clothing, sent to landfills every second.
Addressing this challenge requires systematic change through sustainable production and consumption, and circulation solutions. The zero waste approach is key to this transition.
Consumers can significantly reduce environmental harm by adopting practices such as reuse, repair, and recycling. Apart from fast fashion and investing in durable, high quality clothing not only saves resources, but also celebrates traditional approaches to sustainability.
The private sector must be responsible for designing durable, repairable, and recyclable products. Meanwhile, it embraces a circular business model that helps to reduce chemical pollution, reduce production, use of sustainable materials, and rebuild biodiversity. Innovation and accountability should guide business strategy.
The government will play a key role by implementing an expanded producer responsibility (EPR) scheme to encourage sustainable business models to regulate harmful chemicals, invest in infrastructure recycling, and promote the transition to a circular economy.