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By Yobel Novian Putra
Community-based zero-waste systems offer a cheap, fast way to cut methane emissions and create good jobs. Yet they are all too often overlooked in favor of capital-intensive, profit-driven infrastructure.
At COP30 climate talks in Belem, there is an opportunity to get money flowing to the people getting results on the ground. Belem, Brazil.
In a new brief [LINK], GAIA provides a toolkit for governments and financiers to realign incentives and support zero-waste systems as an essential public service.
That means:
- No false solutions. Waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration, refuse-derived fuel, and waste co-firing should be on exclusion lists for investment. These measures harm our climate and public health and drain limited public funds for reforming the sector.
- Grants first. Climate finance must not trap developing countries into unsustainable debt. For projects with high social and environmental value but limited monetary return, like closing dumpsites, cleaning up pollution, and retraining waste workers, grants are essential. Grants can cover the first 3-5 years of operation for zero-waste initiatives while they establish robust long-term funding models. For some revenue-generating activities, concessional loans are appropriate.
- The polluter pays. A plastic pollution fee, taxes on dumping and burning waste, and reform to harmful subsidies can deter pollution and raise revenues for sustainable solutions.
- Reinvest savings. Source separation, recycling, and community-based decentralized composting waste avoid costs like long-distance hauling and landfill fees. These savings can be reinvested to pay workers and sustain operations over the long term.
“At the ‘Implementation COP,’ leaders must back cost-effective climate solutions that make people’s lives better and leave no one behind,” said Yobel Putra, global climate policy officer at GAIA. “Investing in community-based zero-waste solutions does just that. Our work shows there are shovel-ready projects that need the right financial framework to scale up and deliver.”
The waste sector accounts for nearly 20% of global methane emissions yet received less than 1.5% of climate finance in 2023. Of that, 99% went to waste-to-energy projects, which displace jobs, generate expensive electricity, and lock in carbon dioxide emissions for decades. Only 1% went to organic waste management.
If implemented at scale, zero-waste systems—prevention, reuse, source separation, composting, and recycling—could cut methane emissions from solid waste by up to 95%, GAIA research shows.
Communities in Accra, Buenos Aires, and Quezon City are leading the way. Three initiatives profiled by GAIA are offering informal waste pickers a path to formal employment while preventing pollution. These models can be scaled up with the right access to land and equipment, financial incentives, and policy support.
“Community-based zero waste systems not only reduce waste disposal and emissions, but they boost jobs, environmental health, food sovereignty, civic engagement, and local economies,” said Cecilia Allen, GAIA’s Global Zero Waste Cities Program Director. “With public policy support, these benefits could go further.”
