A milestone for the global Zero Waste movement

Sustainability

Sponsored by Zero Waste Foundation

Neil Khor, Advisor to the President of the United Nations Habitat Assembly.

Awardees

Inspired by the vision of a world where humanity lives in harmony with nature, the Zero Waste International Awards recognises policies, best practices, innovation and ingenuity in tackling the global waste challenge. Here Zero Waste refers to waste prevention through design, financial savings, municipal actions and behavioural change.

The award itself is in support of United Nations General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/77/161) promoting Zero Waste initiatives to accelerate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The awards shine a spotlight on initiatives that redefine environmental responsibility through systemic change.

The inaugural Zero Waste International Awards (ZWIA) ceremony took place in Istanbul on 19 October. The ZWIA comes under the patronage of Her Excellency Emine Erdoğan, First Lady of the Republic of Türkiye and Patron of the international Zero Waste movement. ZWIA celebrates visionary leaders in government, business, academia and innovation.

Hosted by the Zero Waste Foundation in collaboration with UN-Habitat and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the ZWIA also recognises exceptional contributions advancing the UN’s global transition toward a circular, waste-free future.

Minister Nga of Malaysia receiving the Special Citation Award from Minister İbrahim Yumaklı of Turkiye

Samed Agirbas, the convener of the Zero Waste Forum, captured the main purpose of the awards perfectly when he said: “The Zero Waste Forum, like the ZWIA, is a shared call that brings us all together with equal responsibility for the future of the world.”

“This movement is the struggle of those who embrace the principle of living and sustaining life. It is no longer just a matter of individual behaviour, but of a collective consciousness taking action”, he said.

By honouring these changemakers, the Zero Waste Foundation and its partners reaffirm their commitment to advancing the global zero waste vision where every material, every action, and every person contributes to a sustainable and equitable future.

With Zero Waste now increasingly embedded in climate action, urban planning and sustainable development frameworks, the awards set the stage for deeper collaboration, policy integration and industry-wide transformation.

As the Zero Waste Forum continues through keynote sessions, business coalitions and ministerial dialogues, the Global Zero Waste Awards stand as a symbol of what the world can achieve when waste is treated not as an inevitability but as a design flaw to be solved.

Meet the Recipients of the Zero Waste International Awards 2025

Special Citation for Contributions to Zero Waste Living

Recipient: HE Nga Kor Ming, President of the United Nations Habitat Assembly & Minister of Housing and Local Government, Malaysia

For being an International Zero Waste champion & for Introducing Zero Waste in Malaysia’s Waste Management Policy

As President of the UN-Habitat Assembly, Minister Nga Kor Ming has positioned Zero Waste at the heart of international policy. His leadership led ASEAN and China to adopt Zero Waste frameworks in urban sustainability programmes, while Malaysia’s own transformation includes mandatory eco-design standards, the “Say No to Single-Use Plastics” campaign and the conversion of landfills into Lestari (Sustainability) Parks.

Outstanding Achievement as a Zero Waste Global Business

Recipient: Too Good To Go (Denmark)
Represented by: Mette Lykke, CEO

For revolutionising the food industry based on Zero Waste Principles

With over 62 million users and operations across Europe, North America and Oceania, Too Good To Go transforms surplus food from restaurants and retailers into accessible, low-cost consumer meals, saving over 200 million meals from going to waste, proving that sustainability and scalability can go hand-in-hand.

Outstanding Achievement for Zero Waste Innovation

Recipient: YENXA (Spain)Represented by: Sergio Villava Gómez, Co-Founder

For innovation in waste to product circularity

YENXA’s proprietary appliance turns used cooking oil into biodegradable soap, preventing water contamination while empowering households to engage in waste-to-product circularity, a remarkable example of grassroots scale innovation with global potential.

Outstanding Achievement as a Zero Waste City

Recipient: Boris Palmer, Mayor of Tübingen, Germany

For municipal action that led to waste prevention & behavioural change

Tübingen became the first German city to tax single-use packaging, sparking a 15 per cent reduction in public litter in just one year. Despite corporate legal challenges, the policy was upheld by Germany’s Constitutional Court, positioning Tübingen as a leading case study in behavioural change through municipal intervention.

Outstanding Achievement in Zero Waste Industrial Solutions

Recipient: Pedro Bulnes, Co-Founder & CEO, Rembre (Chile)

For innovation mainstreaming Zero Waste in Industry

Rembre Tires recycles over 800,000kg of mining tyres per month, addressing one of Latin America’s hardest-to-treat industrial waste streams. The company’s impact helped inaugurate Chile’s national Extended Producer Responsibility (REP) law, demonstrating how industrial circularity can reshape national policy.

Open call for proposals

Following the successful 2025 inauguration in Istanbul, the ZWIAs continue to honour outstanding achievements and innovations that redefine how the world produces, consumes and manages resources. Each award cycle aims to inspire cross-sectoral learning, promote scalable solutions and strengthen international cooperation for environmental sustainability.