Background Waste can amount to a loss of valuable natural resources. It also puts great pressure on the environment through inadequate disposal and the additional impact of extracting and processing new materials, and the manufacturing and distribution of new goods. Although data on waste across the EU is inconsistent, a wide range of different waste streams are still increasing in volume, such as household waste and packaging waste. Waste disposal methods are not coping with these increased loads, and, most significantly, waste generation is still linked to economic activity. So waste generation grows as the economy grows. The Landfill Directive sets targets for reducing the amount of biodegradable waste to landfill, and the recently revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD) sets new targets for recycling construction and demolition (C&D) waste (70% by 2020) and household waste (50% by 2020). The Sixth Community Environment Action Plan calls for measures aimed at ensuring the source separation, collection and recycling of priority waste streams. Moreover, the WFD lays out a five-step waste hierarchy with waste prevention as the preferred option. A significant amount of waste in the EU is still landfilled, with a high degree of variation between countries. England has one of the highest rates of landfill. Methane emissions from UK landfill account for 40% of all UK methane emissions and 3% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions. In 2006, the South East of England sent to landfill more total waste, more construction demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste, and more commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, than any other of the eight regions in England. Objectives The EPOW project aimed to demonstrate how EU regions can develop and introduce successful programmes that lead to zero waste to landfill in their region. It planned to develop a recycling society with a high level of resource efficiency in the South East of England, while also ensuring, through working with other Member State regions, that project outcomes were relevant and replicable to other EU regions. The principal objectives of the EPOW programme were to demonstrate: The European value of end-of-waste quality protocols through developing three new protocols and embedding existing protocols throughout a region; The novel public sector led approaches to reducing waste crime which will support emerging new business markets for the reuse of recovered materials; Ways to stimulate demand for products and services with lower waste impacts through Green Public Procurement (GPP) in a region, and how green procurement can be expanded to the private sector; How markets for end-of-waste materials can be developed through establishing a pilot commodity market with EU trading links; Means of supporting the development of regional waste infrastructure through partnership working, and how it can address the Commission’s new Raw Materials Initiative; How innovative electronic tools and means of communications can be used to help businesses reduce their waste impacts; How voluntary sectoral agreements supported by one-to-one business advice can disseminate best practice and help businesses contribute to the goal of zero waste in a region; and How new methods of collecting, converting and presenting data and information on waste can stimulate progress towards a recycling society.Results The EPOW project, which ran from January 2010 to March 2013, was for the most part a success, demonstrating pathways to zero waste. However, two original technical actions were eventually dropped out of the eight that had been planned, and some of the outputs were not delivered within the timeframe of the project. Failure of specific actions, however, can be as informative as success. Much has been learned about the feasibility of establishing waste commodity markets and waste exchanges, and that targeted support in key areas (such as working with local authorities and public sector procurement agents) can yield significant results. Moreover, the project identified the importance of working in partnership with other agents to deliver a coordinated response. For example, a multi-agency response to waste crime was shown to be more effective than single agency approaches. Furthermore, working with procurement agents can have an impact, and similar support should also be provided to the suppliers so that they can effectively respond to change. The same is also true when promoting recycling services within local authorities to SMEs. While local authorities were responsive to the support, awareness raising among the SMEs to ensure that they use the service is also important. At the end of the project both the beneficiary and the associate beneficiary, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a not for profit government funded company, carried out reviews of the success of the various actions that they had completed. While there were more successful actions than others, the reports identified areas where further gains could be made. The project also indicated approaches to develop a recycling society with a high level of resource efficiency in the South East of England. The waste crime work will also support the displacement of waste from the illegal sectors into the legitimate waste hierarchy. The work on critical materials, which was widely well received by the waste industry, will help to address the 2008 Raw Materials Initiative and recognise the need for resource recovery. Best practice and outcomes was also shared with other Member States. The project demonstrated some quantifiable economic benefits from some of the areas of activity, particularly concerning the waste protocols. Moreover, a complete economic feasibility analysis on a range of areas of activity (waste exchanges, supporting green procurement in the public sector, etc.) all supported stronger action. The social benefits are clear for a number of areas, particularly around waste crime, at a local level (for illegal sites and dumping of tyres) and at an international level (illegal waste exports). Better waste infrastructure will also have social gains. The UK appears to have a greater appreciation of the problem of landfill and a more structured approach to waste management. It is likely that the findings of the project will have practical uses. An ex-post follow-up visit was conducted by the LIFE external monitoring team in May 2016. The project was conceived during a drive to fulfil the requirements of the revised Waste Framework Directive and the mission concluded that it had succeeded in supporting the implementation and development of key aspects of UK, European and international policy in the areas of waste prevention, recycling and recovery, resource efficiency and sustainable procurement. However, evaluating certain aspects of the project has been made difficult because of the absence of long-term monitoring. The effectiveness of the project was affected by several key issues, including its broad scope which may have diluted effort, and an underestimation of the time required to bring guidance protocols into effect. Nevertheless, the mission found that several aspects of the project work continue to be implemented as mainstream statutory guidance (e.g. the quality protocol for biomethane), best practice guidance (e.g. the Sustainable Event Resource Roadmap and e-learning modules), and through ongoing schemes to encourage stakeholders to engage in waste prevention, recycling and sustainable procurement. The project’s waste crime initiative continues to be used by the Environment Agency and has resulted in at least one successful prosecution. Even when direct results were less successful, they have provided useful insight to a broad range of stakeholders across multiple sectors. In terms of behavioural change, an evaluation provided by WRAP indicated that at project completion, 26 out of 30 organisations interviewed took action to improve sustainable procurement, and 11 out of 18 local authorities were engaging with voluntary agreements to improve waste services as a result of EPOW support. At the time of the mission, 9 local authorities in the South East (23 across England) were said to be engaged in voluntary business waste recycling agreements. Feedback from Sevenoaks District Council indicated that the process had allowed a significant increase (20-50%) in businesses engaged in fee-based collection services. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).