Lviv is on the way becoming a pioneer, Zero Waste City
On 17th September 2020, the Lviv City Council passed a motion confirming its commitment to become the first Ukrainian and first non-European Union Zero Waste City
The city’s zero waste commitment comes after a long and sustained effort from the local Zero Waste Europe member, Zero Waste Lviv, investing a lot of time and effort to showcase the benefits of adopting a zero waste strategy and convince local civil servants and politicians of the need for such a policy.
The war brought new challenges to the city, such as a 25% increase in population due to internally displaced people from the regions directly affected by the war seeking refuge in the city of Lviv. Zero Waste Lviv (ZWL) took the initiative to pilot more waste-conscious ways to deliver humanitarian relief and information on waste management to refugees both transitioning through and staying in Lviv.ZWL was able to apply a zero-waste approach to help refugees, the military, and the municipality once the war had started. Based on our previous work with local restaurants, the organization helped several catering outlets reorganize food delivery and distribution in refugee centres with reusable kitchens and tableware. ZWL provided restaurants with large hermetic containers, delivery boxes, cups with lids and portion containers, and even washing machines in some cases. Refugee centres were provided with reusable dishes, glasses, and cutlery - all donated by local residents. This helped these institutions to prevent waste but to also save money. ZWL also provided 400 army officials with reusable camping tableware to help prevent waste within military activities.
"Through the tough year, and despite the war, our organization of Zero Waste Lviv kept working towards this ambition. We helped refugees adopt the habit of separate collection of organic waste and recyclables through information campaigns." - ZWL offered support to the municipality to include advice in the newly created chatbot for refugees.
The war has had a negative economic impact on women and children. ZWL continued its lectures for women on reusable menstrual products to help lessen the financial burden, as well as to provide more healthy and environmentally friendly alternatives. In cooperation with NGOs Zelena Akcija (Croatia), GreenZone Association (Hungary), and UAZA (South Africa), ZWL managed to distribute over 500 reusable menstrual cups, pads, and panties among the refugees.
The strategy for 2023 in Lviv remains the same: to continue our journey towards the Zero Waste City Certification in cooperation with Zero Waste Lviv and other stakeholders.