Environment minister Carole Dieschbourg (centre) Paperjam

Environment minister Carole Dieschbourg (centre) Paperjam

The campaign will involve a series of 5 workshops taking place on 15 May, 4 June, 13 June, 18 June and 20 June, where speakers will lead recycling debates and encourage participants to engage in discussions and present their own ideas on waste management solutions.

According to our colleagues at Paperjam, the minister also added that a draft law on waste management was underway, and it is expected this will be formally presented by autumn, which aims to go above and beyond the plastic reduction plan outlined by the European Parliament.

Strides in plastic reduction

According to figures provided by the government, household plastic waste has increased by 5.6% in four years in Luxembourg, and plastic production is also on the rise--up 10,000 tonnes between 2009-2015, reaching 30,000 tonnes in 2015. 

Overall, Luxembourg scores high in Europe in terms of recycling overall waste (35%), above the Netherlands and France at 25% and 11%, respectively. 

Despite the increasing figures of plastic production, there has been a number of success stories when it comes to reducing plastic use. On 25 April, for example, a ceremony was held at the Luxembourg Sustainability Forum, during which 54 companies were celebrated for having signed the IMS Luxembourg pledge to commit to zero single-use plastic by the end of 2020. Dieschbourg hopes additional companies will adhere to this pledge. 

The ministry added that 100 restaurants and cafeterias had also taken advantage of implementing reusable containers. 

Since January 2019, there has been a ban on free plastic bags in the hopes to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. It’s estimated that the popular “eco-sac”, since its introduction in 2016, has already reduced 500m plastic bags. 

Join the campaign

To register for the “Null Offall Lëtzebuerg” workshop(s), or for more information, visit the website www.nulloffall.lu.