Background As European society has grown wealthier it has generated more and more waste. In the EU alone, 1.3 billion tonnes of waste are thrown away annually, of which some 40 million tonnes are hazardous. The EU's approach to waste management is based on waste prevention and reduction. It should be a primary measure, before the re-use of waste as material or as an energy source. The province of Florence, with an average per capita waste production of 669 kg per inhabitant per year in 2007 has one of the highest productions of waste in Europe. (The EU-27 national average was 546 kg/inhabitant/yr and the European average 522 kg/inhabitant/yr). Objectives The WASTELESS IN CHIANTI project aimed to contribute to European and national policies on waste prevention and sustainable consumption through the implementation and monitoring of an integrated waste prevention and reduction programme for Chianti in Florence. By selecting an internationally known district, the aim was to provide Member States with an easily identifiable model for the establishment of their own waste prevention programmes by December 2013 (as required by the EU Waste Framework Directive, Art. 29). The project aimed to involve a broad range of Italian stakeholders, including the general public, to demonstrate that waste prevention, reduction and sustainable development can be effectively achieved by means of integrated and participatory approaches and concrete commitments, actions and tools. A specific objective was the implementation of the provincial waste prevention and reduction plan within Chianti. (The plan was defined within the Local Agenda 21 of the province of Florence and approved by the provincial council in December 2007). Results The WASTELESS IN CHIANTI project developed a pilot strategy for waste prevention and sustainable waste management in a local community. The approach successfully applied was in line with EU and National policies on waste management. In fact, it reflected the waste management hierarchy established by EU Directive 2008/98/EC, which promotes prevention above preparation for reuse and recycling. The project thus provided a successful case study for its implementation of this policy at local level. The specific objective to implement the provincial waste prevention and reduction plan was reached. This plan aims to improve waste prevention and reduce shared and concrete actions; introduce management and incentives tools (collection schemes, accounting systems, collection fees, regulatory frameworks); and promote the use and marketing of recycled materials. All components have been implemented and will continue also after the end of the project since they are integral part of the Provincial Plan for Waste Prevention and Reduction. The expected result to reduce final municipal waste sent to landfill or incineration by 15% in 5 years (2007-2012) in the project region was reached at the end of 2012, with a 28% reduction in waste sent to final disposal. From 2007 to 2013, a 17% reduction in municipal waste generation was also recorded in the pilot area, which implies a per capita waste reduction of 121 kg/inhabitant/year. Also with respect to 2010, the starting year of the project, the total waste generation decreased by 9%. Furthermore, the amount of unsorted waste sent to final disposal also decreased (by 40% with respect to 2007 and by 28% with respect to 2010) with subsequent further improvements in collection of separate waste also observed. The project approach, however, was resource intensive and time consuming due to the need to directly involve local stakeholders and citizens in the implementation of the project actions. This is a key aspect of the project. Strong commitment by the local authorities is required to promote the initiative. European and national authorities can benefit from the experiences gained in applying this integrated approach, as well as the good practices that were adopted by the project for strengthening and refining the legislative and programmatic framework related to waste. In addition, local authorities in each Member State can directly apply the project’s strategies and tools for implementing a similar approach in their own territory. Moreover, the entire project can be considered a best practice for waste prevention and sustainable management, since the innovative and demonstrative character of the project relies mainly in the integrated project approach. The single project measures have been already implemented in many other territories. But the project has demonstrated the effectiveness of combining many different good practices in a comprehensive approach, characterised by the implementation of many concrete waste prevention actions through the active involvement of many different local stakeholders. This was accompanied by the revision of waste collection schemes and the related regulatory/charging framework from a waste prevention perspective, and by an extensive local communication campaign. The project, through the monitoring strategy and tool developed, also provides Member States with useful examples for identifying qualitative or quantitative benchmarks for waste prevention measures. EU legislation obliges Member States to monitor and assess progress made in prevention. Moreover, the project identified legislative barriers in Italy for implementing the project in particular for setting up reuse centres and waste collection charging systems based on the PAYT (pay as you throw) approach. During the project, these difficulties were discussed and shared with other beneficiaries of EU funded projects addressing waste management, as well as with other experts in the waste issue. In cooperation with other EU funded projects, the project team drafted a petition for legislative action on waste. The text of the petition is available for download (in Italian) at: www.lowaste.it/appello-normativo-rifiuti/. The petition identifies limits and legislative constraints on the waste issue and gathers feedback and possible solutions, deriving from direct experience. Two aspects of the project can be considered innovative: The introduction of a territorial “waste-less” label in order to engage many different local stakeholders in the implementation of the waste prevention project strategy; and The implementation of a waste collection scheme, based on the application of the e-gate technology for measuring the amount of undifferentiated waste individually produced by users accompanied by door-to-door collection for the recyclable materials. This latter, in particular, demonstrates that highly selective collection and recycling performances can be reached not only through the implementation of waste collection schemes entirely based on the door-to-door collection of all waste fractions, as already demonstrated in many national and European territories, but also through the collection of undifferentiated waste with an e-gate bin-based collection scheme. Such a scheme gives more flexibility to households for delivering waste. The project approach also provides several relevant local economic and social benefits to the pilot area: Cost savings for the local authorities for delivering waste collection services, thanks to the reduction of the amount of waste sent to final disposal and to the efficiency of the e-gate technology, combined with door-to-door collection for the recyclable materials, in delivering high performance waste collection services; Cost savings for households, but also for not domestic users, due to lower waste collection fees, thanks to the introduction of a PAYT approach, made possible by individual accounting of waste; and Positive ‘territorial marketing’ effect for the economic activities (tourism facilities, cafés and restaurants, shops etc.) in the areas implementing the project approach, linked to the implementation and promotion of the “waste-less” label, and consequently positive effects on employment.Finally, the project approach was chosen as one of the ‘best practices’ to be introduced by the MED Zero Waste Pro project (http://www.zerowastepro.eu/the-project/capitalisation), co-financed by the Med Programme. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).