Covid-19 has swept across the world in recent months. While our lives have been upended in more ways than one, we have all continued to consume things – mostly food and beverages, but also household and personal hygiene items, cleaning products, gardening equipment, toys and other products that keep us busy indoors.

Going hand in hand with this consumption is the generation of waste. Keeping our cities clean is paramount in such times and waste management companies have mostly continued to service our neighbourhoods. The people working in the sector are as exposed as other frontline workers to contamination from our waste. In order to make their jobs easier and keep them safe, you may need to change how you dispose of your waste. We encourage you to consult the website of your local waste management company for specific information about waste disposal practices where you live.

As the EWWR Secretariat, ACR+ has gathered a series of practices in waste management in the time of pandemic in order to inform practitioners, but also consumers, about what cities are doing around Europe. We invite you to consult our website and contact our colleague Paolo at pm[at]acrplus.org if you have other ideas or practices to share.

During these difficult times, just like before, a good rule of thumb is to prevent generating waste in the first place, whenever possible. You can find some recommendations about how to do so on our website.