The 16th International Conference on Waste Management and Technology(2021 Global Waste Forum) was successfully held both online and offline on 25th -28th June, 2021, hosted by Tsinghua University, United Nations Environment Programme, Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity-building and the Transfer of Technology in Asia and the Pacific and Chinese Society For Environmental Sciences, and organized by Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, Solid Waste Branch of Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, Institute of Solid Waste Pollution Control Technology of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Solid Waste Treatment and Utilization Division of Chinese Association of Environmental Protection Industry and Institute of Process Engineering of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The topic of this meeting was building zero-waste cities.progressively, and 208 officials and experts from 9 United Nations agencies and intergovernmental agencies, as well as 34 countries and regions were invited to give special reports and thematic discussions on the hot issues in the fields of solid waste, chemicals and circular economy, to discuss the construction of waste-free cities under the double-carbon strategy, and to expound the scientific concepts and advanced experiences related to solid waste, thus becoming one of the most important international academic and technical exchange conferences in the field of solid waste. The meeting included a plenary meeting, three parallel meetings and 19 sub-forum sessions. Prof. Li Jinhui, executive director of BCRC China, presided over the opening ceremony. Mr. Zhou Zhiqiang, Deputy Director of the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Prof. Hao Jiming, Chinese Academy of Engineering International Member, National Academy of Engineering Professor, Prof. Liu Jianguo, American Academy of Arts Member and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Michigan State University, Mr. Rolph Payet, Executive Director, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, Mr. Tu Ruihe, Representative of the UNEP Office in China and Mr. Peng Bin, Deputy Secretary General of Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences, were invited to give opening speeches. Subsequently, the conference and sub-forums made reports and discussed on topics such as solid waste in living areas, circular economy, electronic waste, hazardous waste, bulk industrial solid waste, waste plastics, marine microplastics, etc. The conference attracted more than 800 online and offline expert representatives, and a total of 2.424 million people from all walks of life watched the conference cloud online.