First zero waste office building
Amera Tower, in the city of Cluj-Napoca in north-west Romania, is currently undergoing a zero waste building certification managed by Zero Waste Europe and Zero Waste Romania. The building is occupied by three companies, with a total of 800 employees. As part of the move to zero waste:
- single-use coffee cups have been removed from vending machines, and employees get a small discount when they bring their own reusable cup;
- single-use plastic straws, stirrers and non-recyclable packaging have been removed from vending machines;
- PET water bottles have been replaced with reusable glass bottles and tap water filtering systems have been installed in the building;
- machines using single-use coffee capsules have been replaced with machines that use coffee beans.
In addition, single servings of milk, honey and sugar were replaced with more sustainable alternatives: glass for milk, jars for honey, and sugar cubes in reusable cardboard boxes.
These measures are combined with kerbside collection of 12 different types of waste, internal zero waste policies, and extensive education and monitoring.
