AN INITIATIVE OF

Welcome to Tilos, the 1st Zero Waste Island. Here, we change our everyday habits and make new, conscious choices to reduce waste and give a second life to all the waste we produce. All together and each one of us individually, are committed to protecting our unique natural environment and increasing our quality of life.

Where Next?

Just Go Zero Tilos is a way of thinking, a new lifestyle, and an algorithm that can be applied anywhere that people ask for it. Whether it is an island, a city, or a state, it’s just a matter of adapting the technical solution. As it has been adapted for the island of Tilos, it can be adapted to any place the citizens choose to apply it.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Zero Waste means that all waste produced in Tilos is collected and managed in a fully circular way in order to eliminate its environmental footprint. Effectively, it means no more waste ending up in landfills.

HOW WE MAKE IT HAPPEN

With the elimination of landfills and public dustbins. By sorting at the source and door-to-door collection. By composting, recycling and reusing. With modern technology that enables and drives change. With every household, every business and every visitor as an ally.

WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU

Because it creates a chain of environmental, social and financial benefits for the local community. Because if this is done in Tilos it can be done everywhere. Because it inspires us to be part of the solution. Because the 1st Zero Waste Island is the first step to a Zero Waste world; a more viable and harmonious world.

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

FOUR STEPS TO ZERO WASTE

If you are a resident // local business

Visit a Zero Point Information Centre, at the port square, to collect your zero-waste equipment

Learn from the Just Go Zero Tilos Team how to properly sort everything that is no longer useful to you

Sort your waste and have it ready for the Just Go Zero Tilos Team to collect directly from your door, on regular days and hours

Receive real-time information, through the Just Go Zero app, about how much you have recycled

If you are a visitor

Upon arrival on the island, you will find the information and special equipment needed for the proper separation of materials in your accommodation lodge. If you arrive by sailboat or speedboat, you will find the special markings with QR code together with the instructions for separation and placement of materials at the port.

Follow the instructions for the disposal of your waste in municipal dustbins

Use a multi-use bag to carry your groceries and reduce your environmental footprint

Find out more about Just Go Zero Tilos at the Zero Point Information Centre at the square in Livadia

Download the Just Go Zero App to receive real-time information about the amount you have recycled as well as useful information about the Just Go Zero Tilos programme.

Zero Waste Glossary

What you need to know about the new “zero waste” reality on the island

THE BLUE BAG

The specially designed blue bag is the trademark of JGZT. It is found in every household, and it is where the recyclable materials are deposited. It has a unique QR code so that the volume of materials it contains can be easily recorded after they are weighed at collection. This way, every household can easily monitor its recycling rate.

ZERO APP

Through this app, every household in Tilos can monitor and trace, in real-time, the circular management of the waste it produces and how much of it is turning into organic waste or is recycled. This way, it can set new targets and improve zero-waste performance.

DOOR TO DOOR

A modern fleet of specially designed vehicles collects and weighs waste from every household and business in Tilos and then takes it to the newly founded Centre for Circular Innovation 3K.

CIRCULAR INNOVATION CENTRE 3K

The old landfill has been transformed! It was cleaned, equipped and now operates as a Centre for Circular Innovation. Waste is transported here to be further sorted and processed for recycling and the conversion of biowaste to fertilizer. The rest is reused or prepared for waste to energy conversion.

ZERO POINT

Zero Point is in Livadia, right by the port of Tilos. It is the place where you can learn more about JGZT, pick up equipment, receive training, be informed about the programme results and find items and gifts produced from materials formerly considered waste.

UPCYCLING

But what about the old furniture or a device that no longer works? What do you do with your old garments and fabrics when you have no more space in your closet? In Tilos, these are collected and transported to the Center for Creative Upcycling to either be repaired and reused or become raw materials for art and creation.

In Tilos nothing is wasted any more

ZERO WASTE FOOTPRINT
LESS WASTE MORE CIRCULARITY

BENEFITS AT A GLANCE

A significant investment that is transforming local waste management infrastructure, building the green transition capacity of the local community and creating more than 10 permanent or seasonal new jobs.

A model of public-private partnership that protects the natural environment and contributes to the realization of regional and national circular economy and circular waste management goals.

An applied solution that can be leveraged by other communities in Greece and abroad to advance circular economy and export environmental know-how

An initiative that makes Tilos an international destination for sustainable tourism, creating a new paradigm for Greece.

The result of a model public-private partnership

POLYGREEN

With “nothing in excess” as its main motto, and a conviction that nothing is to be wasted and everything can be given a second life, Polygreen and the Just Go Zero programme develop solutions that promote the circular economy and mobilize citizens and businesses to adopt circular models of production and consumption to achieve a viable future.

MUNICIPALITY OF TILOS

With a track record in implementing and pioneering environmental projects such as the recently completed European Project “TILOS”, which has made the island energy-autonomous, the Municipality of Tilos, with a unanimous decision by the Municipal Council, is now changing waste management on the island το move to towards a zero waste future.

Learn more

Tilos Celebrates Circular Economy

A big celebration of circular economy for the inhabitants of Tilos was organized on Saturday, November 27 by Polygreen.

Tilos – the first island in the world to achieve ZERO waste to landfill

Polygreen and the Municipality of Tilos presented Just Go Zero Tilos which makes zero waste a reality, for the first time, in an entire community.