On 18 June, the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) awarded the most outstanding actions organised during the 2023 campaign. This year, we decided to celebrate the Awards Ceremony in sunny Marseille, France, gathering around 200 participants, including numerous EWWR coordinators and action developers.

Among the participants, we had as special guests the representatives of the E-VOICE project. Around 40 people coming from the city of Gazzo (Italy), the Province of Padua (Italy), the city of Šibenik (Croatia), the city of Mioveni (Romania), and members of Ubbsla – Union of Municipalities on the Black Sea (Bulgaria), FAMSI – Fundo Andaluz de Municipios para la solidaridad internacional (Spain) and ALDA – Association Europeenne pour la Demoicratie locale (France) have joined the event in Marseille. The E-VOICE project is reflecting on the impact of the COVID-19 to build resilient communities across Europe. The project targets young people, educational authorities, local governments, and families. Read more about it in our Press File and take part on their survey on the involvement of citizens, particularly young people, on post-Covid-19 decision-making processes.

Åsa Ågren Wikström from the Committee of the Regions and Françoise Bonnet, Secretary General at ACR+, opened the ceremony and welcomed the participants to this great celebration of the European Week for Waste Reduction.

Eric Akopian presented a local initiative, “Clean my Calanques”, a Marseille-based association founded in 2017 that fights for environmental preservation and aims to raise awareness about environmental issues among the entire population.

Following this, we revealed the winners in the categories of Public Administration, Business, and Association and NGO.

Maria López Modesto, Communications Officer at MedWaves, and Jordi Pont Bosch, Project Manager at MedWaves, introduced participants to the Euro-Med Weeks for Waste Reduction (EMWWR) and presented the winning actions of this 2nd edition of the EMWWR.

Afterwards, we met the finalists and discovered the winners of the 2023 edition in the Educational Establishment and Citizens categories.

Here are the winners and runners-up of the EWWR 2023 per category:

• In the public administration and organisation category, the winner is the Bli en förpackningshjälte – Europa minskar avfallet/ Become a packaging hero – Europe is reducing waste implemented by Sysav, in Malmö (Sweeden).

The runners-up are Reuse centre and drive for recovery “Reutilizagune” implemented by Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council (Spain), and Single-use free packaging day implemented by Mollet del Vallès City Council (Spain).

• In the business/industry category, the winner is Ocean Guardians: Unpacking the Ocean’s Message on Packaging implemented by Malta National Aquarium, in Qawra (Malta).

The two runners-up are In-Pack-To implemented by DuPont Asturias, in Carreño (Spain), and May the R-power be with you and be a superhero! implemented by MiReHu Nonprofit Ltd., in Miskolc (Hungary).

• In the association/NGO category, the winner is Curses contra els residus (Races against Waste) implemented by SETEM Catalunya Association, in Barcelona and Rubí (Spain).

The two runners-up are NIRN Podcast Series implemented by Northern Ireland Resources Network (Northern Ireland), and Recovery, awareness and reduction of mobile and tablet consumption in the « Mobile phones for Earth » campaign by NGO Alboan implemented by Alboan ONG Fundazioa, in Bilbao (Spain).

• In the educational establishment category, the winner is Green Bake Sale implemented by Student Council of Athens College, in Athens (Greece).

The two runners up are Plásticos en Salinas implemented by IES Salinas, in Salinas (Spain), and Towards an almost plastic-free school implemented by Julien Gracq Secondary School, in Beaupréau (France).

• In the citizen(s) category, the winner is Planet-friendly adventures with Climate Elves implemented by Bozókiné Szabó Ildikó, in Hódmezővásárhely (Hungary).

The two runners-up are Creating awareness for environmental issues, especially for children implemented by Ines Hansen in cooperation with Kreis Weseler Abfallgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, in some cities of Wesel (Germany) and Ecowrap – ecological gift wrapping implemented by Daniela De Bono together with her young son Luke, in Malta.

The photos of the ceremony are available for download here.

Congratulations to them all!