The Zero Waste Forum 2026 will be held from 5–7 June 2026 in Istanbul, Türkiye, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, United Nations partners, and a broad multi-stakeholder coalition, under the theme: “Road to Antalya: Zero Waste as Climate Action.”
The Indian Blue Community UDYAMA is invited to join the Zero Waste Forum 2026 as a strategic partner. Pradeep Mohapatra, Secretary & Co-Founder of UDYAMA, asked me to provide some notes from a Blue Community perspective. Here my input:
Notes for the 2026 Zero Waste Forum, Istanbul
by Roland Brunner, coordinator / networker / responsible content editor for the Blue Community Network.
I am honored to bring in some notes from a Blue Community perspective and to contribute to the 2026 Zero Waste Forum in Istanbul—a city that bridges continents and reminds us that our environmental challenges, like our waters, know no borders.
The global Blue Community Network brings together municipalities, civil society organizations, and public water providers and other institutions committed to three core principles: recognizing water and sanitation as human rights; promoting publicly owned and managed water services against privatization and profeteering; requesting safe public drinking water for everybody, everywhere, against the commodification and commercialisation of bottled water and plastic waste.
At the heart of the zero waste vision lies a simple but transformative principle: we must radically reduce our extraction, consumption, and pollution of natural resources. Water is central to this transformation.
Water is not a commodity. It is a shared commons and a fundamental human right. Yet current production and consumption systems—especially those driven by single-use plastics and bottled water—are placing immense pressure on freshwater ecosystems while generating vast amounts of waste.
The Blue Community Network calls on governments, cities, and institutions to align zero waste strategies with water justice by committing to the following actions:
- Phase out single-use plastics, particularly bottled water, and invest in safe, publicly accessible drinking water infrastructure.
- Promote tap water as the default, through public awareness campaigns, refill networks, and the installation of drinking fountains in public spaces, schools, and transport hubs.
- Strengthen public water services, ensuring they remain transparent, accountable, and democratically governed.
- Adopt procurement policies that prioritize zero waste solutions, including reusable systems and plastic-free alternatives at public events and facilities.
- Protect water sources from pollution, especially from plastic leakage, industrial discharge, and unsustainable agriculture.
- Support community-led initiatives that integrate zero waste practices with local water stewardship and circular economy approaches.
Zero waste is not only about managing materials—it is about redesigning systems to respect ecological limits and human rights. By reducing plastic waste and rejecting the commodification of water, we can simultaneously address pollution, climate change, and inequality.
The Blue Community Network stands ready to collaborate with municipalities, civil society, and international partners to accelerate the transition toward a zero waste, water-secure future.
In the spirit of this Forum, let us move from commitment to action—ensuring that clean water flows freely, without pollution and without profit barriers, for all.
Roland Brunner
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