Pathway To Zero Waste has been established to transform our current approach to waste in the South East. It aims to create a culture of resource efficiency in the region that will see waste volumes greatly reduced and far more material reused, recycled or converted to energy instead of being sent to landfill.

PTZW will save the region's businesses an estimated £370m by 2011. The new infrastructure needed to support the change to smarter resource use will bring investment and drive business growth. This will create job opportunities, providing further economic benefits and long-term sustainable prosperity.

With less reliance on virgin materials, increased energy production from renewable sources and a reduced carbon footprint, the environmental and reputational advantages on offer are considerable too.

Who we are
PTZW is a partnership, founded by:

• SEEDA (South East England Development Agency);
• the Environment Agency; and
• WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).

Other partners are:

• the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
• Improvement and Efficiency South East;
• the South East Centre for the Built Environment;
• the Government Office for the South East;
• the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme; and
• EnviroBusiness.

This provides PTZW with a unique advantage, enabling the partners' collective experience, resources, skills and influence to be harnessed and used as a powerful catalyst for change.

The objective
The South East's current reliance on landfill disposal is unsustainable. Landfill capacity in the region will run out within five years.

PTZW's objective is to deliver a cultural shift that will divert materials away from landfill. It will transform the way that organisations view and manage materials, driving change from

Making it happen
PTZW is a catalyst of change, focused on delivering high-impact quick wins that accelerate the pace of change throughout the region.

It is providing the leadership needed to drive a major transformation from waste disposal to waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and resource efficiency.

Its team combines best practice from the private and public sectors and operates with commercial logic and real customer focus, helping businesses develop resource efficiency solutions that work for them.