The EWWR jury is composed of professionals working in the environmental sector who are recognised at the European level. They are in charge of examining the shortlisted actions (those pre-selected by the EWWR coordinators) and of designating a winner for each of the 6 categories, according to the EWWR criteria (visibility and communicational aspects; quality of content; originality and exemplarity; and lasting impact & follow-up). The jury members for this edition are:

• Public administrations and organisations: Tjisse Stelpstra, European Committee of the Regions (CoR)

Tjisse Stelpstra is a Dutch civil servant, politician and administrator, a member of the ChristenUnie party. Mr. Stelpstra has been a member of Drenthe Provincial Executive since April 2015; since 2019, his portfolio has included climate, energy, the Regional Energy Strategy (RES), and the environment. He is the spokesperson of the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) on circular economy and ECR Group representative in the Working Group on Green Deal. Mr. Stelpstra holds a law degree from the University of Groningen.

“It is fantastic to see all these great projects and initiatives at the European Week for Waste Reduction. The Circular Economy is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal. I’ve said several times: “There is no waste!” We have to circulate all our valuable resources and develop awareness to a real circular society. In 2022, we are looking at the adoption of several key legislative acts such as the review of requirements on packaging and packaging waste in the EU. You raise awareness for sustainability and are truly the champions of circularity! While the EU and national governments have to set the necessary legal framework, it is citizens’ initiatives, projects by NGOs, SMEs and educational institutions that show us in a very practical way what has to be done and that lead by example”.

• Associations/NGOs: Andrea Gonzales, European Environmental Bureau (EEB)

Andrea works at the European Environmental Bureau, Europe’s largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations, and has been supporting different departments for the last four years. Currently, as part of the Membership team, she helps ensure the smooth functioning of a network that brings together over 170 civil society organisations from more than 35 European countries. In her free time Andrea keeps a blog in Galician where she encourages young people to live more sustainably. She shares information about initiatives at local level and also ways to reduce the individual carbon footprint.

“Reading about all the initiatives that took place during EWWR 2021 has been truly inspiring! All over Europe, committed citizens explore new ways of managing our precious and scarce resources, and they share this knowledge with their communities. However, we need systemic support to incentivize these actions, through policies and taxation that will also discourage the harmful linear production and consumption models.”

• Business/Industry: Lina Konstantinopoulou, Eurochambres

Lina Konstantinopoulou is the Policy Director at Eurochambres. She is currently managing a team of Heads of Policy and Policy Advisors in five policy priority areas International Trade, Single Market, Skills , Economic Policy, Sustainable Europe, Neighborhood and Enlargement. She has been leading NGO strategic planning and programming activities, management of various multi-stakeholder platforms and policy / public affairs and communication activities as well as managed a wide range of European research & innovation projects.

“Chambers of Commerce and Industry are already encouraging businesses to establish and incorporate policies focusing on best practices for recycling and waste reduction’’.

• Educational Establishments: Sandra Federici, EPALE

Sandra Federici, PhD, also a journalist, currently carries out his consultancy work as Editorial Supervisor of EPALE, the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe, as Educational and Didactic Coordinator of the “International School on Migration about The social dimension of the environmental transition” and as communication officer of Cartiera, an ethical fashion laboratory where disadvantaged people are employed in the production of leather and fabrics accessories, promoting a circular economy process through upcycling processes by recovering materials meant to be disposed by luxury “made in Italy” brands.

“Local communities are increasingly understanding the importance of waste prevention and often surprise us with the innovativeness of their proposals.”

• Citizens: Franc Bogovič , European Parliament (EP)

Bogovič is currently serving his second term as a Member of the European Parliament, where he is engaged in topics related to agriculture, rural and regional development, cohesion policy, as well as energy. Bogovič is also leading the Smart Villages initiative in the European Parliament. With ensuring EU funding of pilot projects and preparatory actions on Smart villages in the last few years, Bogovič is working closely with the European Commission so that Smart Villages are going to become a significant part of the future EU regional and rural development policy.

“Recycling and reusing consumer products paves the way to a more sustainable future for our children. It also has a positive effect on the overall well-being of each individual, as they see with their own eyes how much less waste they generate.”

• European Special Prize: Chiel Berends, European Commission (EC)

Chiel works in the waste unit of DG Environment on waste prevention, textiles and construction and demolition waste. Before that he worked at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU and the Embassy of the Netherlands to Latvia.

“We need significantly reduce waste generation and keep valuable resources in the economy longer. The actions organised during the EWWR lead the way.”