Waste Management

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Waste Management

Water Management

Industry as a partner forsustainable development

International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)

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This report is released by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and the UnitedNations Environment Programme. Unless otherwise stated, all the interpretation and findings setforth in this publication are those of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Solid Waste Association(ISWA) or the United Nations Environment Programme concerning the legal status of any country,territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.The contents of this volume do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United NationsEnvironment Programme, nor does citing of trade names or commercial processes constituteendorsement.

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First published in the United Kingdom in 2002.

Copyright © 2002 International Solid Waste Association andUnited Nations Environment Programme

ISBN: 92-807-2194-2

1

A report prepared by:International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)Overgaden Oven Vandet 48 EDK-1415 CopenhagenDenmarkTel: +45 32 96 15 88Fax: +45 32 96 15 84E-mail: iswa@inet.uni2.dkWeb site: http://www.iswa.org

DisclaimerIn a multi-stakeholder consultation facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme, anumber of groups (including representatives from non-governmental organisations, labour unions,research institutes and national governments) provided comments on a preliminary draft of thisreport prepared by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). The report was then revised,benefiting from stakeholder perspectives and input. The views expressed in the report remain thoseof the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme or the individuals and organisations that participated in the consultation.

Waste Management

Industry as a partner for sustainable development

2 Waste Management

Contents 3

5 Foreword

9 Executive summary

13 Part I: Introduction13 1.1 ISWA – The International Solid Waste Association14 1.2 Scope of the report

17 Part 2: Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development17 2.1 Environmentally sound management of solid wastes18 2.2 Description of the waste industry19 2.3 Facts and figures on the municipal waste industry23 2.4 Hazardous waste management

25 Part 3: Different approaches to waste management in different parts of the world25 3.1 The European Union26 3.2 The United States26 3.3 Other high and medium income countries26 3.4 Economically developing countries

31 Part 4: Implementation of sustainable development practices31 4.1 Waste management and sustainable development32 4.2 Waste management today – social dimension34 4.3 Waste management today – economic dimension37 4.4 Waste management today – environmental dimension

39 Part 5: Means of implementation39 5.1 Regulatory framework41 5.2 Market-based initiatives43 5.3 Economic instruments45 5.4 Informative instruments

49 Part 6: Future challenges and goals49 6.1 Key areas of progress achieved49 6.2 Key areas for future progress51 6.3 Specific areas of attention53 6.4 Roles of other stakeholders

54 Annexe 1: Case study 1: Sustainable development in Switzerland.An example of good practice with regard to electronic scrap disposal

56 Annexe 2: Case study 2:Waste management in Metropolitan Cape TownA case study – the challenges facing a developing city

65 Annexe 3: Case study 3: Management of municipal solid wastes in China70 References

Contents

4 Contents

List of figures20 Figure 1: Waste generation rates from 1960 to 1999 in the United States20 Figure 2: 1999 total waste generation in the United States21 Figure 3: Management of MSW in the United States21 Figure 4: Total waste generation by sector – EEA countries, 1992 to 199722 Figure 5: Is there still a correlation between economic growth and waste generation?22 Figure 6: Waste generation from daily household and commercial activities59 Figure 7: Desirability hierarchy in integrated waste management60 Figure 8: Typical elements of a waste management system

Tables:23 Table 1: Generation and transport of MSW in China28 Table 2: Statistics of MSW generation and transport in 11 large cities in China35 Table 3: Urban expenditure, total and on waste, selected cities and years

Since the 1992 World Summit in Rio deJaneiro, professional waste management hasmade significant technological and managerialcontributions to the protection of theenvironment. However, we are still facingnumerous and serious problems.The 1990scan be seen as a period of betterunderstanding regarding the position andfunction of the waste management sector asspecialist in the ecological, economic, and socialframework.The new decade offers anopportunity – and at the same time shows thenecessity – to proceed with theimplementation and consolidation ofenvironmental regulations. Focused action isrequired as soon as possible, especially indeveloping countries.

This document summarises contributions froma number of International Solid WasteAssociation (ISWA) national members.TheISWA is well aware of the fact that theoverview provided is far from being complete.Nevertheless, the document clearly shows thesignificant change of the role of wastemanagement from the sector’s limited scopeof dealing with wastes to the new task ofmanaging our society’s metabolism.

Waste management has for quite some timebeen understood as a key area in globalenvironmental protection. Beyond thatintegrated waste management may beregarded as an interface between theproduction, distribution and consumption ofgoods on the one hand, and soil, groundwater,air and climate on the other.Thus, it is animportant partner in the context ofsustainable development.

Industrialised countries are currently fine-tuning their regulatory framework and wastemanagement infrastructure.The wastemanagement industry deals with considerablyrising environmental and legal standards, best

practices, the need for increased efficiency,quality management and occupational healthaspects.

The impact of waste management on theenvironment has been widely recognised inless developed regions, as well. Getting controlof the various waste streams from households,small shops, from the industry, the healthcaresector, and numerous other sources, allowstheir proper handling, treatment and disposal.Furthermore, it has been recognised that verysimple solutions for waste management oftenhave tremendous effects on the health andsafety standards in developing countries.

Waste collection is the basis for all subsequentmanagerial measures and treatmenttechnologies.The early stages we hope toenvisage comprise the establishment of a basicregulatory framework, of collection schemes,and of appropriate treatment and disposalfacilities to prevent further damage to theenvironment.Training of operators and staff isa key element in this context. Local operatorsand authorities can definitely benefitconsiderably from international support andthe transfer of know-how, so that they can runat least basic collection and recyclingoperations, landfills or compost plants in thebest possible way under the givencircumstances.

ISWA has recently entered into co-operationwith UNEP and is now able to offer trainingcourses in developing countries. Furthermore,a special training pack for hazardous waste isbeing developed in order to support thistraining programme.The tasks and challengeswe face today in our business and field ofresearch are the result of decades, if notcenturies, of economic and socialdevelopment.

Foreword 5

Foreword

Our behaviour as consumers, as well as ourroles as managers, operators or regulators, aredetermined by our specific set of values, ouremotions, our culture, our cognitivebackground, and by our personal degrees offreedom. Both education and legislation arerequired to change behavioural patterns.Education will create awareness and supportthe development of a new frame of mind in amid-term perspective. Legislation, however, hasto lay out the rules, to enforce them and toprevent violations as a short term measure.

In view of the variety and complexity ofproducts and consequently of wastes, by-products, and residues, there is no singlesolution to the waste treatment demands oftoday. An appropriate mix of technologies isneeded in order to meet the various technical,ecological and economic requirements ofintegrated waste management on a regionallevel. As long as industry and consumersproduce waste, we need an infrastructure thatallows for their proper treatment anddetoxification and for the safe long-termdisposal of residues.This system may becomeless extensive once we achieve good results inthe fields of waste detoxification and wasteminimisation.

The concept of producer’s responsibility wasrealised by shifting the financial burden for theproper treatment or recycling of end-of-lifeproducts to manufacturers.This has establisheda new line of communication between theenvironmental sector and manufacturers.Waste managers relay information regardingthe design for recycling and the design fordisposal upstream to producers andmanufacturers, thus advocating the cause ofthe environment’s capacities andenvironmental constraints.This communicationwill still be developed and further improved,but it can be regarded as a first step taken bythe waste management sector.

Two main challenges for the future are thetask of decoupling waste generation from

economic growth by increased eco-efficiencyas well as the problems caused by the trend ofrapid urbanisation. Given our presentproduction and consumption patterns, wastegeneration is closely tied up with populationgrowth and economic development. Many ofthe most rapidly growing conurbations andmega-cities are located in developing countrieswhere funding is still a critical issue.While theintroduction of fees for waste collection andtreatment services raises people’s awareness, itmay push consumers and businesses to illegalpractices.This makes education an even moreimportant factor in this context.

Today, the waste management industry is wellaware of the importance of social aspects.These include, among others the siting offacilities and the introduction of new collectionschemes, training workers and staff andeducating consumers, establishing andpromoting business, business relations andinternational dialogue, etc. Since the wastemanagement sector of today has a widerscope, an increased potential and a sense ofgrowing responsibility, it needs to create trustin its management approaches, businesspractices and technical operation.Trust as along-term commitment will be supported byhigh standards, transparency, documentation,and an honest policy to fight offenders.

As part of this programme, ISWA initiated thedevelopment of a Waste Convention as acode of ethics for the waste managementbusiness worldwide to raise the level ofperformance in this field. ISWA extends aninvitation to other international bodies tocontribute to this initiative.

ISWA’s practical experience gathered in morethan 30 years of international co-operation ofpractitioners and planners, regulators andoperators, scientists and researches in the fieldof waste management in more than 90countries around the world proves how muchdeveloping countries and economies intransition can benefit from this transfer of

6 Foreword

know-how. Of course, immediate support thatfacilitates the implementation of sound wastemanagement strategies and practices is mostvaluable. In many cases, a small amount ofmoney invested in training and education willenable local staff and regional regulators tosolve the problem themselves.

If the industrialised countries are willing todonate just a minuscule fraction of the wastemanagement industry’s profits for this purpose,this sum – allocated under acknowledgedinternational auspices – will make atremendous difference.With its unique andbalanced membership structure thatrepresents the public and the private sector aswell as the academic and scientific world, theISWA is ready to take the lead in this effort.

The more the waste management sectorunderstands and accepts the paradigm ofsustainable development, the more itbecomes obvious that our traditionalapproaches and common tools will soon havereached their limits. Present planning andregulation in waste management still focus onmicro measures. On the other hand, very highstandards have been successfully achieved inmany technical areas, from emission control toworking conditions.This know-how, thesetechnologies and practices have not beenimplemented in many parts of the world –not for technical reasons in the first place,though.

Despite all efforts, there are huge areas inwhich no progress can be expected in thenear future due to other political priorities, toa lack of awareness or to poverty.

Yet, we have a common goal – anenvironmentally sound, responsible andsustainable management of wastes with aminimum of detrimental effects on humanhealth and life, and on the eco system. And wehave a common restriction – limited financialresources. So we have to ask ourselves: whichare the key priorities and which are the most

efficient measures with the biggest possiblebenefit for the environment?

Ten years after the World Summit of Rio deJaneiro, environmental policy-makers now havetools like environmental impact assessment, orcost-benefit analysis, life cycle analysis, materialflow analysis etc. for improved and scientificallybased decision making.The professional wastemanagement sector anticipates that the 2002Johannesburg Summit will address the macromeasures that will help us to overcome thestall we may face due to financial constraints inthe developing world.

With this common goal in mind, we willassume our shared responsibility for thefuture.

I would like to thank all ISWA members,experts and staff involved in the preparationof this document and especially HelenaBergman, ISWA general secretariat, for herdedicated work.

Christoph Scharff,President, ISWA January 2002

Foreword 7

8 Waste Management

Executive summary 9

Waste management is an important part ofthe urban infrastructure as it ensures theprotection of the environment and of humanhealth. It is not only a technical environmentalissue, but also a highly political one.Wastemanagement is closely related to a number ofissues such as urban lifestyles, resourceconsumption patterns, jobs and income levels,and other socio-economic and cultural factors.

The present report gives a brief review of thedevelopment of the waste sector since the1992 Rio World Summit, as well as a statusdescription of the situation of wastemanagement today and of future challenges.The scope of the report is limited to themanagement of municipal solid wastes (MSW).

This report is divided into five parts. Part 2,describes the status quo in the field of wastemanagement and presents relevant facts andfigures. Part 3 takes a look at the differences inwaste management in different parts of theworld. Part 4 deals with the implementation ofthe three dimensions of sustainabledevelopment in the waste industry. Part 5explains different means of how to implementsustainable waste management systems. Someof the instruments are widely applied whereasothers mainly concern a few countries that arein the forefront of waste management. Part 6looks into future challenges and goals for thewaste industry. A number of case studies canbe found in the annexes to the report.

One characteristic feature of sustainable wastemanagement is that it is achieved by using thetechnical, organisational, and financial resourcesavailable in a particular locality.

The waste management situation in thecountries around the world is by no meansuniform. It is easy to forget that the categoryof countries that are now ‘fine-tuning’ theirwaste management systems is a minority.The

vast majority of countries are busy strugglingwith such basic issues as ensuring sufficientcollection services and implementing a minimaldegree of control at disposal sites at the sametime as they are facing increasing wasteamounts due to the trend of urbanisation.They also lack the technical and financialresources to safely manage solid wastes –which includes adequate provisions for storingthe waste at the point of generation as well asefficient and sufficient collection services. Finaldisposal in those countries is usually a matterof transporting the collected wastes to thenearest available open space and thendischarging them.

However, important progress has been madein the waste sector over the last few years.The most important improvement is theincreased level of awareness among both thepublic and politicians.This is the first step toensure that action is taken and resources areallocated accordingly. On the other hand, theavailability of resources is closely connected tothe economic situation and wastemanagement still holds a weak position in thiscontext compared with other public services.And since economic development is alsoclosely linked to the generation of waste, thelast couple of years with strong economicdevelopment have resulted in increasing wastequantities.

It has become more common to use differentinstruments to reach environmental targets.Legislation plays an important role inestablishing the framework for these targets; itis complemented with a number of marketbased, economic and information relatedinstruments.Their application and effectivenessdepends on the situation. During the last tenyears, new communication technologies andnetworking have played an increasinglyimportant role in the process of sharing know-how and experience across borders.

Executive summary

One major drawback for the industry is thedifficulty to get acceptance for the siting ofnew waste treatment facilities.The NIMBY-syndrome (‘not in my backyard’) makes thesiting of facilities lengthy and costly all over theworld.

The most important challenge for the industryis the prevention of waste, followed closely bythe need to obtain clear, transparent andreliable data. Another task is the increasedcooperation across industrial sectors toachieve the overall goal of improved resourcemanagement and to render waste lesshazardous. Solutions for those two goals willhave to be found in the conception, designand production phases of goods.

It seems clear that the tail (wastemanagement) cannot wag the dog (the entireeconomy).The tools of material and substanceflow analysis, life cycle analysis and cost-benefitanalysis have to be applied more widely, sincefocusing on the waste end only is the wrongapproach in many cases.The combinedapplication of these methods forcomprehensively defined systems will result inconcrete concepts of the optimal mix ofmeasures.The goals of dematerialisation anddetoxification of all economic activities in along-term perspective have to become moreimportant than goals just restricted to wastemanagement.

The resulting concept could be called‘sustainable integrated resource and wastemanagement’.The main future challenges andgoals for realising this concept are:

• National waste policies have to be mademore coherent; the legal framework, itsimplementation and enforcement need tobe improved in all parts of the world.Especially in developing countries, substantialefforts are of greatest importance in thatfield.Waste management plans at nationaland local level are needed; these can serveas the basis for the improvement of and

investment in waste management systems.This is especially important in thosecountries where public health is adverselyaffected by insufficient or non-existentservices.

• It is of highest priority to achieve areduction in the amount of wastegenerated and to decouple the link ofeconomic growth and waste generation.For this purpose, a uniform waste industryapproach to raise public and politicalinterest is required in all parts of the worldto establish sustainable waste managementsystems.

• A most pressing area for future progress isthe field of information and education.There needs to be a co-ordinated strategywith regard to information provision andconsiderable work needs to be done tochange people’s attitudes towards wastemanagement as a whole and increaseparticipation in recycling and minimisationschemes. Once the public is participating inthe recycling schemes it is important togive them feedback on what happens withthe recycled waste to keep up theirinterest in participation.

• Information and education are also neededto allay the fears that people have withregard to waste management and toencourage them to take responsibility forthe waste they generate. One major goalthat needs to be achieved is increasingpublic confidence in the wastemanagement sector. Extensive work needsto be done to remove negativeperceptions and replace emotive viewswith views based on sound science andagreed facts.

• Future progress is also needed in improvingthe markets for recyclables. Producers mustbe encouraged to incorporate life cycleassessments in the development stages oftheir products and consider waste

10 Executive summary

management issues in the design stages –something that does at present not happenas a general rule.

• Alternatives have to be made available sothat consumers are encouraged tominimise their waste or buy products thatare of a comparably high standard andprice but less harmful to the environment.

• Accessible and transparent data is crucial ifstrategies are to be successful andsustainable waste management practicesachieved.The industry needs to haveaccess to clear, transparent and replicabledata and information.The availability andthe quality of waste data cause difficultiesalready at a national level; at aninternational or regional level, thesedifficulties are even greater.

• We need to create standards for thewhole waste industry that include new andemerging technologies and also themanagement of specific waste types suchas agricultural waste. Considerableinvestments should be made in emergingtechnologies and support should be givento research and development (R&D).

• While progress has been encouraging todate, partnerships need to be developedcontinually, so that all stakeholders canwork together towards a common goal.Participation by all parties in the decision-making process is an important issue.Thewaste industry has to encourage and takepart in multiple stakeholder involvement.

• The waste industry must set and achievesustainability targets.

• There needs to be access to training andeducation for everyone involved in wastemanagement. An increasing awareness ofnetworking opportunities is required tofacilitate the information flow.

• The practical experience of practitionersand planners, regulators and operators,scientists and researches in wastemanagement must be made more availableto developing countries and economies intransition. Immediate support and transferof know-how are most valuable, as theyfacilitate the implementation of soundwaste management strategies andpractices. In many cases, a small amountinvested in training and education canenable local staff and regional regulators tohelp them effectively.

• From a global point of view, the mosturgent need is to close the gap betweendeveloped and developing countries.Thefirst priority in this context is to make surethat there are collection services available toas large a part of the world’s population aspossible and to raise the quality of landfills.

The key priorities and the most efficientmeasures with the biggest possible benefit forthe environment have to be identified on thebasis of the relevant facts and figures.Toolssuch as environmental impact assessment,material flow analysis, or macro-economiccost-benefit analysis must be applied morewidely for improved and scientifically baseddecision-making. A broad range ofstakeholders must be involved to achievesubstantial progress in the minimisation anddetoxification of waste.

Step by step the isolated ‘end of pipe’ view ofwaste management must be transformed intoa concept of integrated resource and wastemanagement.This will help to realise genuinesustainable development.The systemdefinitions of analyses used in decision- andpolicy-making must include the global pictureof waste generation and resourceconsumption outside national systems.This isespecially important in developing countries.

Executive summary 11

12 Executive summary

To achieve the objective of integratedresource and waste management, new ways ofpolicy-making will be needed that include astructured dialogue between numerousstakeholders.Waste management institutionswill be challenged to contribute to thatdialogue, the topics of which will include thewhole picture and range from the supply ofprimary resources, production and trade, totransport and consumption. As a result of thiscomprehensive approach, the goals of wasteminimisation and decoupling of economicgrowth and waste generation may finally beachieved.

Waste management is an important part ofthe urban infrastructure, as it ensures theprotection of the environment and of humanhealth. It is not only a technical environmentalissue, but also a highly political one.Wastemanagement is closely related to a number ofissues such as urban lifestyle, resourceconsumption patterns, jobs and income levels,and other socio-economic and cultural factors.Lately there has been a trend to enlarge thescope of waste management and include itwithin the larger concept of resourcemanagement.Today, waste management mustbe seen in its full context. It cannot be solvedwith merely technical end-of-pipe solutions.

When we employ a long-term wastemanagement strategy to ensure sustainabledevelopment, this will not only affect a numberof different dimensions; there are also differentlevels of decision-making and action involved.Decision-making and action take place atvarious levels – nationwide, regional, local andfinally in households. All aspects and all actorsmust be considered when we develop a wastemanagement system and implement it in dailylife.

There are also large differences in the level ofproficiency in the countries of the world. It iseasy to forget that the category of countriesthat are now ‘fine-tuning’ their wastemanagement systems is a minority.The vastmajority of countries is busy struggling withsuch basic issues as ensuring sufficient collectionservices and implementing a minimal degree ofcontrol at disposal sites at the same time asthey are facing increasing waste amounts due tothe trend of urbanisation.There is an interestingparallel to draw between the problems facedby the cities of today’s low-income economiesand those of 19th century North America andwestern Europe. In both cases, the pace ofpopulation growth outstripped the capacity tomanage urban services.

‘The total lapse of more than a century from thefirst clear stirrings of public interest in urbanwaste services to the present time in high-incomecountries suggests that a comparable change inlow-income countries, where public interest is notyet fully aroused, is not likely to be swift. Untilpublic interest is aroused, additional publicfunding for improved waste service is unlikelyunless accompanied by increased prosperity.’(WHO, 1998) The organisation of efficientwaste collection in western Europe and NorthAmerica took around 20 years, as public andpolitical interest in waste management ‘wasdelayed to the 1960s and 1970s in the wakeof another period of economic growth.’(MacFarlane, 2001).

Due to this complex situation, it is indeed achallenging task to come to a satisfyingsolution. On the following pages, we haveprepared a general report on the componentsnecessary to attain sustainable wastemanagement and we have included severalrelevant examples.The information used in thisreport was provided by a number of ournational members and by a large number ofother sources (as referred to in thebibliography). A UNEP reference group hasalso contributed to this text by providingmaterial input and giving comments.The ISWAScientific and Technical Committee and aninternal ISWA reference group have also beenhelpful with advice.

1.1 The International SolidWaste AssociationThe International Solid Waste Association(ISWA) is a global body concerned withprofessional waste management. ISWA is anon-political and non-governmental associationby statutes and follows the mission statementto promote and develop professional wastemanagement worldwide as a contribution tosustainable development.

Introduction 13

Part 1: Introduction

ISWA’s objective is the worldwide exchangeof information and experience on all aspectsof waste management. ISWA promotes theadoption of acceptable systems of professionalwaste management and of public cleansingthrough technological development andimprovement of practices for the protection ofhuman life and health and of the environmentas well as the conservation of materials andenergy resources.

The association is active in a variety of areas,including conferences, meetings, trainingprogrammes, information development anddissemination, and technical assistance on aglobal scale.

ISWA has a total of more than 1,200members in 93 countries. Its network expandsto countries with more than 80% of theworld’s population. ISWA has threemembership categories: national members,organisation members and individualmembers. At present, there are 32 nationalmembers or incoming national members thatrepresent their country on solid waste issues.ISWA’s national members represent countrieswith 48% of the world population and 87% interms of global GNP.

ISWA’s members represent all aspects of ourfield and most regions worldwide: frompractitioners and industry to communities,from associations, research institutes andacademics to regulatory authorities.Theassociation is the global forum for wastemanagement, with 12 technical working groupscovering all relevant aspects of sustainablewaste management and with special interest indeveloping countries issues:

• Working Group on Biological Treatment ofWastes,

• Working Group on Collection andTransport Technology,

• Working Group on Communication andSocial Issues,

• Working Group on Developing CountriesIssues,

• Working Group on Economic Analyses forSustainable Development,

• Working Group on Hazardous Wastes,• Working Group on Healthcare Waste,• Working Group on Legal Issues,• Working Group on Recycling and Waste

Minimisation,• Working Group on Sanitary Landfill,• Working Group on Sewage and

Waterworks Sludge,• Working Group on Thermal Treatment.

1.2 Scope of the report The scope of this report is limited to themanagement of municipal solid waste (MSW).Hazardous waste will only be touched upon ingeneral terms.The delimitation of the scopecorresponds to Chapter 21 of Agenda 21excluding sewage sludge issues.The definitionof MSW as referred to in Chapter 21.3 ofAgenda 21, is as follows:

‘Solid wastes, as defined in this chapter, includeall domestic refuse and non-hazardous wastessuch as commercial and institutional wastes,street sweepings and construction debris. In somecountries, the solid wastes management systemalso handles human wastes such as night-soil,ashes from incinerators, septic tank sludge andsludge from sewage treatment plants. If thesewastes manifest hazardous characteristics theyshould be treated as hazardous wastes.’

The general descriptions of individual sectorsreflect the state-of-the-art standardscharacteristic of the most advanced countrieseven if this is not representative of standardscommon on a global scale. Certainly, thedisparities between developed and developingcountries are much more obvious than thosebetween countries of the industrialised world.A large number of people around the worldare without adequate waste collection anddisposal services.

14 Introduction

It remains an important goal for all countriesto adopt general waste management policies,to allocate sufficient funds to ensure thesetting up of collection systems and wastetreatment facilities under controlled health andenvironmental conditions. It also remains amajor challenge for the waste managementsector to ensure the transfer of information,technology and experience to developingcountries. In this report, consideration will begiven to the different aspects and problemsencountered in the field of waste managementin developing countries.

Introduction 15

16 Waste Management

2.1 Environmentally soundmanagement of solid wastesEnvironmentally sound waste management isrecognised by most countries as an issue ofmajor concern. For both developing anddeveloped countries, waste management is animportant factor in ensuring both humanhealth and environmental protection. Article21.4 of Agenda 21 states that ‘Environmentallysound waste management must go beyondthe mere safe disposal or recovery of wastesthat are generated and seek to address theroot cause of the problem by attempting tochange unsustainable patterns of productionand consumption.’

Sustainable waste management is realised byusing the technical, organisational and financialresources available in a particular locality.

Definitions of sustainable waste managementwill differ depending on the circumstances.Thefollowing components are indispensable forthe purpose of guidelining the implementationof a system that will be able to achieve theoverall environmental objectives of countriesand/or regions:

• waste policy, including a waste hierarchy;• waste planning;• regulatory framework;• enforcement of the law.

Waste management is usually regulated by anational and/or regional waste policy.Thefollowing hierarchy is generally accepted in thiscontext:

• waste prevention and minimisation;• reuse and recycling;• environmentally safe waste treatment

including disposal.

Another important component is wasteplanning and the co-ordination of otherpolicies on a national, regional and local level.Waste planning makes it possible to take intoconsideration the large number of differentfactors that have an impact on the wastemanagement system.

The overall policy is linked by the objectivesand targets that form the regulatoryframework for the industry.The complexity ofthe framework differs from one country toanother, but it sets the scene for the industry.In most developed countries, the industry isstrictly regulated with regard to licensing,authorisation and compliance with the law ofthe different waste treatment facilities.Wasteplanning is also often subject to legislation: thegeneral contents of a plan and the procedureof how to realise it are established by the law.

Enforcement of the law and the powers of theregulatory authorities to ensure that theregulatory framework is respected arenecessary tools for efficient legislation.This is aweak point in most countries. Non-compliancewith environmental legislation is not alwaysdeliberate. But there is still a tendency insociety to consider this kind of violation lessserious than the violation of other laws.Thelack of efficient enforcement of such laws isoften due to the lack of financial and humanresources.

In the last few years, the concept of integratedwaste management has evolved. In such asystem, the technical solution of disposing ofwaste is not the only focal point. Instead, itrelies on a number of different means tomanage waste. It aims at a holistic approach tothe chain of waste management fromgeneration to disposal and all stages inbetween. All actors participating in and

Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development 17

Part 2: Implementing the three dimensions ofsustainable development

affected by the waste management system areconsidered as well as cultural, social andeconomic factors.

Since the Rio summit in 1992, the focal pointof waste management has shifted from raisingthe level of public awareness to taking action.In most developed countries, the developmenthas gone from improving the technicalsolutions of waste management tounderstanding the importance of an integratedwaste management system.The fine-tuning ofthe system will continue and technicalsolutions are going to be complemented byincreased activities on social andcommunication aspects.

2.2 Description of the wasteindustryOver the years, the waste industry hasdeveloped into three main groups dependingon the type of waste dealt with:

• municipal solid waste: this group oftenincludes commercial and institutionalwastes,

• industrial waste: industry-specific wastedepending upon the industrial activityconcerned,

• hazardous waste.

Household hazardous waste is usually includedin MSW. In developing countries there is oftenno distinction made between the differentsources of waste; it is simply all mixed.

Healthcare waste is a small, but highlysignificant waste stream with a highly ratedperception of risk. It contains a wide range ofhazardous materials, as well as infectiousmaterials. In this field, there is a significantpotential for improvement in all countriesregarding waste prevention, segregation andrecycling.This is especially true in developingcountries where there is a lack of specialmanagement and an urgent need for training

and support programmes. In those countries,separating and treating waste withintermediate technology is a truly sustainablealternative to doing nothing at all. But sincehealthcare waste goes well beyond the scopeof this report, there will be no further specificconsideration of this waste stream.That doesnot mean that the issue is not of a highpriority in the achievement of sustainablewaste management.

The individual steps in the waste managementchain can be divided into the following:

• waste prevention, waste minimisation andwaste detoxification;

• collection, transfer, transport and storage;• reuse and recycling;• waste treatment including waste disposal.

Waste can be treated and recycled using alarge number of different technologies. But thefollowing categories specify the main groups oftreatments:

• biological treatment, for examplecomposting and anaerobic digestion;

• incineration with or without energyrecovery;

• landfilling.

Apart from those controlled treatmentmethods one cannot ignore the fact that aconsiderable amount of waste is still doneaway with in an unacceptable way.Waste is stilldisposed of by dumping it in the open or intothe ocean, or by burning it on-site. Such waysof disposal have irreversible and potentiallyharmful effects on both human health and theenvironment.These are clearly not methodsthat belong to sustainable waste management.Nevertheless, such disposal methods arefrequently employed in an estimated 175sovereign nations and territories (Rushbrook,1999).

As mentioned earlier, there are a number ofdifferent actors within the industry.These

18 Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development

range from policy-makers and legislators on anational level, to citizens taking part in thewaste collection schemes.The role of the localauthorities is to deliver sustainable wastemanagement to the citizens. Many of thosewho work in the field of waste managementare elected and appointed for a limited periodof time.This is another factor that has animpact on the decisions taken and on long-term planning.

The fact that the industry is dealing with thepublic, influences the way industry works.Changing and directing public behaviour in acertain direction takes a long time and a largeinformation campaign. Once a system is set up,it is difficult and costly to make changes to it.Furthermore, if citizens are required to behavein a certain way, they want to be informed onand assured of the environmental benefit oftheir efforts.The public willingness and capacityto pay for waste management are otherfactors that limit the scope of wastemanagement services.

2.3 Facts and figures on themunicipal waste industry We can only comprehend the currentsituation, assess future trends, set targets, anddetermine the means to reach those targetsefficiently, if we have precise information onwaste amounts and on its composition. Acommon terminology is also an importantelement in the waste industry. However, thewaste industry is still characterised byinconsistent and non-comparable data and theabsence of a common terminology, ofparameters and monitoring standards.

Municipal waste includes domestic refuse andnon-hazardous waste from commercialactivities and the public sector. But asmentioned earlier, this is not true fordeveloping countries where different kinds ofwaste are usually mixed.The organisation ofthe collection and treatment systems for

municipal waste is normally within theresponsibility of the respective public authority.The system is set up according to thedemands of an overall waste policy and itstargets.The amount of freedom to achieve settargets varies from one regulatory frameworkto another.

A number of different factors such asenvironmental, cultural, social, economic, andtechnical aspects must be taken intoconsideration in the setting up of a sustainablewaste management system.That is why wastemanagement schemes vary substantially fromone country to another and also from oneregion/city to another.

The patterns of waste generation, itscomposition and treatment are highly diversein the different regions, countries and parts ofthe world.We have put together somestatistical information illustrating thosedifferences in the figures on pages 20 to 22.

Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development 19

20 Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development

0

50

1960 1970 1980 1990 1999

100

150

200

250

0

2

4

6

8

10

Per capita generation(Ibs/person/day)

Total waste generation(millions)

Total waste generation (Y1)

Per capita generation (Y2)

Figure 1:Waste generation rates from 1960 to 1999 in the United States

Source: US EPA, 2000

Other3.2%

Metals7.8%

Rubber, leatherand textiles

6.6%

Glass5.5%

Wood5.3%

Paper38.1%

Yardwaste12.1%

Food waste10.9%

Plastics10.5%

Figure 2: 1999 total waste generation in the United States - 230 million tonnes

Source: US EPA, 2000

Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development 21

Landdisposal

57% Combustion15%

Recovery28%

Figure 3: Management of MSW in the United States

Source: US EPA, 2000

Energyproduction

4%

Constructionand demolition

22%

Manufacturing26%

Miningand quarrying

29%

Municipal waste14%

Other5%

Figure 4:Total waste generation by sector - EEA countries 1992 to 1997

Note: Sewage sludge is included under other waste. EEA countires are the 15 member states ofthe EU and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.Source: US EPA, 2000

22 Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development

0

1

2

3

4

5

Construction waste

Household waste

Manufacturing industries

0 5 10

1,000 Euro per capita

Waste generation in tonnes per capita

15 20 25

Figure 5: Is there still a correlation between economic growth and waste generation?

Source: EEA, 2000

United Kingdom 96

Sweden 94

Spain 96Italy 96Italy 98

Portugal 96

Norway 98

Netherlands 96

Luxembourg 96

Ireland 95Ireland 98

Iceland 96

Greece 96EEA-Average 96

Germany 93

France 95

Finland 94Denmark 96Denmark 98

Belgium 96

Austria 96

kg per capita Mixed bagged waste

0 100 200 300 400 500

Separate collection

Figure 6:Waste generation from daily household and commercial activities

Note:The variations in waste generated from daily household and commercial activities betweenmember countries are limited, except for Austria and Iceland, which have slightly lower generationrates.The increase in Ireland can be related to such themes as improved collection of waste and amore firm registration of waste or in changes in some of the household activities. Such as, thenumber of single households and the lifestyle change towards pre-prepared food and take-awayrestaurants. Source: EEA, 2000

From the few examples given, one can drawthe conclusion that worldwide wasteproduction is still growing.That goes for EUcountries as well, despite the fact that a wastereduction policy was adopted and despite arelatively low growth in economic activity anda balanced population growth. Part of thisincrease in waste quantities is due to animprovement in statistical data collection andmonitoring, part of it is real growth.

The examples above may also be regarded asan indicator of the difficulty to obtain reliableand comparable data on waste generation andtreatment methods.

2.4 Hazardous wastemanagement(1)

All countries generate hazardous waste.Thequantities generated and their potentialimpacts depend on many factors, including thelevel of industrial development, the way inwhich wastes are managed, the existing stateof the local environment and the capacity ofthe receiving media.While many developedcountries now have effective hazardous waste

management systems in place, other countrieswith a long-term industrial base have not yetdeveloped hazardous waste managementsystems to the same extent.

In the developed world, hazardous wastemanagement programmes were startedaround 30 years ago.They were prompted bya number of pollution incidents. Some of thoseearly mistakes turned out very costly, and thetask of cleaning up old pollution can be a verylong one. In the United States of today, moremoney is spent on dealing with past pollutionthan on managing the current disposal ofhazardous wastes, even though the quantitiesof newly generated waste are greater.

While each country’s hazardous wastemanagement system is different, the nationalsystems have some common features. Perhapsthe most important of those are the stagedintroduction of controls and the gradualdevelopment of facilities.While the propercontrols and facilities are put in place, interimsolutions are employed. Some environmentallydeveloping countries have already started todevelop a comprehensive system for the

(1) The source of theinformation in this chapter isthe ISWA Training ResourcePack for Hazardous WasteManagement inEnvironmentally DevelopingCountries.

Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development 23

Table 1: Generation and transport of MSW in China

Source: UNEP-Infoterra China National Focal Point

Year Actual Statistical Urban Area of Quantity Quantity Per capita Total refusenumber number population road swept of refuse of faeces refuse generationof cities of cities (million) (million m2) transported transported generation (million

(million tonnes) (million tonnes) (kg/capita.day) tonnes)1986 353 348 122.34 445.07 50.09 27.10 1.12 1361987 381 371 128.93 511.41 53.98 24.22 1.15 1471988 434 424 139.70 588.76 57.51 23.53 1.12 1561989 450 441 143.78 64.71 62.91 26.03 1.21 1741990 467 455 147.52 691.98 67.67 23.85 1.26 1861991 479 473 149.21 782.51 76.36 27.64 1.40 2091993 570 552 165.50 924.10 87.91 31.68 1.45 2401995 640 633 184.90 1110.40 106.71 30.66 1.59 2941996 1227.88 108.25 29.31

environmentally sound management ofhazardous wastes. Many are considering howto start, while others have not yet realised thenecessity to begin at all.

There is a number of lessons to be learnedfrom the experiences and the mistakes madein developed countries during theimplementation phases of their hazardouswaste management systems.These include:

• wide-ranging hazardous waste managementcontrol cannot be introduced overnight, itmust be introduced in stages;

• legislative and enforcement measures mustbe developed at the same time as facilitiesand support services are established;

• as controls on emissions to air, land andwater are gradually tightened, specific areasof pollution can be identified and takencare of;

• waste minimisation should be addressed atan early stage, as any reduction in thequantity or toxicity of the waste will affectthe number and size of treatment facilitiesneeded as well as the economics of thewaste management system.

Since the development of legislation andestablishment of long-term treatment anddisposal facilities will take ten to 15 years, it isimportant to develop interim or transitionalfacilities in the short-term to allow the rapidphasing out of uncontrolled dumping.Industrialising countries cannot wait until theyhave detailed waste data and an infrastructurein place before taking action. It is better forthem to do something now than to investigatefor too long.Transitional technologies offer thatshort-term solution.

There are three main objectives, which needto be addressed if environmentally developingcountries are to improve their control andmanagement systems for hazardous wastes.

1. Controlling transboundary shipments –particularly controlling exports from thedeveloped world to the developing world(viz. the Basle Convention).

2. Controlling trans-national companies –controlling the behaviour and operatingstandards of trans-national corporations toensure that they employ the samestandards worldwide and do not lowertheir environmental standards whereregulations may be more lax. Under somecircumstances, relatively small quantities ofhazardous wastes produced may make thebest available technology uneconomic.

3. Helping environmentally developingcountries to control their own wastes –the use of shared expertise and technologytransfer to assist developing countries inthe management of their own hazardouswastes.

24 Implementing the three dimensions of sustainable development

The current status of waste management is byno means uniform in different parts of theworld. For the purpose of showing thesedifferences, it seems sensible to divide theglobe into the following four geo-political areas:

• the European Union,• the United States,• other high and medium income countries,• economically developing countries.

3.1 The European UnionThe member states of the European Union(EU) have reached the most advanced state inwaste management in the world. Extensivesource separation and material and energyrecovery from wastes have led to a constantdecrease of landfilled material.The landfilldirective in force will reduce the landfilledamounts to a minimum and at the same timereduce the content of organic carbon. Animportant part of waste legislation is based onthe concept of priority waste streams.(2)

Individual directives set concrete targets forreduction, recycling, recovery anddetoxification.The gap between more and lessadvanced member states is getting smaller.

In the EU, policy-making in the field of wastemanagement is primarily driven byenvironmental objectives. Economicconsiderations are mostly restricted tostatements like ‘economically reasonable’without concrete valuation.The resulting high-tech solutions are rather expensive.The finalgoal is reducing landfilling to a minimum.Thequestion of whether or not the environmentalbenefits outweigh the financial costs is hardlyever asked.

Waste management policies in the EU arecurrently subject to remarkable changes. In theCommission’s proposal for a 6th

Environmental Action Programme (EAP), thewaste issue is being incorporated into themanagement of natural resources. In thecommunication for the 6th EAP, drafted by theCommission, the waste issue is part of achapter called ‘The sustainable Use of NaturalResources and Management of Waste’.TheCommission has also announced that it willlaunch a resource and recycling strategy duringthis year, which will be the framework forfuture waste regulation within the EU.Furthermore, it became clear that theintegrated product policy (IPP) is thecornerstone of the 6th EAP.This will set theagenda for European environmental legislation.

The fact that the waste management unit inDG Environment no longer exists may beregarded as a visible sign for this reorientation.A new unit called ‘Sustainable Resources –Consumption and Waste’ was established in itsplace.This change demonstrates that a moreintegrated approach is taken that considersentire life cycles of products. Furthermore, thegeneral objective of attaining sustainabledevelopment shall be the guideline to widenthe perspective from a mainly environmentalfocus to the inclusion of economic and socialaspects.

Maybe this change will also lead to a new wayof applying the European waste managementhierarchy (minimisation – material recycling –energy recovery – disposal) in a morecomprehensive way to find the optimalcombination of options.The concept ofpriority waste streams will probably remain,but this new approach (which is more lifecycle oriented) could lead to the revision ofexisting regulations.The increasingconsideration of economic aspects willprobably lead to more cost-effective solutionsfor existing and new regulations.

(2) Packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles, electric andelectronic equipment,batteries

Different approaches to waste management in different parts of the world 25

Part 3: Different approaches to waste management indifferent parts of the world

It is obvious, however, that the tail (wastemanagement) cannot wag the dog (the entireeconomy). Since focusing on the waste endalone is certainly the wrong approach in manycases, material and substance flow analyses willbe more widely applied.The goals ofdematerialisation and ‘detoxification’ of alleconomic activities in a long-term perspectivewill become more important than goals in thefield of waste management.

Thus, new ways of policy-making are needed.These may result from a structured dialoguebetween a broad range of stakeholders.Wastemanagement institutions will be challenged tocontribute to that dialogue, the topics of whichwill be the whole picture and issues like supplyof primary resources, production, trade,transport and consumption. As a result of thiscomprehensive approach, the goals of wasteminimisation and decoupling economic growthand waste generation may finally be achieved.

Within the next ten years, several accessioncandidates will become member states of theEU.They will have to fulfil the EU’s legalframework for waste (and resource)management, probably with specified extendeddeadlines.

3.2 The United StatesCompared with the EU, a more pragmaticapproach is used in the United States.Economic considerations based on cost-benefit analyses play an important role inpolicy-making. Due to this approach, landfillingcontinues to be the most common solution inthe United States.Two factors play animportant role in this context: a relatively lowpopulation density, and incomplete costaccounting on waste management alternatives.

3.3 Other high and mediumincome countriesSome high- and medium-income countriesobviously follow the approach of the EU, somefollow that of the United States. Limitedavailability of land normally leads to more‘European’ solutions (for example, Hong Kong,Singapore, Japan). Countries where thislimitation does not exist tend to follow thepragmatic course of the United States (forexample, Australia).

3.4 Economically developingcountries3.4.1 General overviewEconomically developing countries generallylack policies aimed at the management of solidwastes. In addition, most countries do not havemodern regulations; existing regulations areantiquated and rarely enforced.

However, solid waste management hasbecome an issue of concern for public healthand environmental protection agencies inmany developing countries.There are largedifferences in the waste managementstandards of developed countries.This gap iseven greater between developed anddeveloping countries.The waste produced byhuman settlements and the resulting problemsare mainly the same – but there aredifferences between regions and locations dueto variables such as climatic, cultural, industrial,geological, legal and environmental factors.Thewaste management systems in differentdeveloping countries vary substantially and arein some cases virtually non-existent.

Most developing countries do not have thetechnical and financial resources to managesolid wastes safely.This means that storage atthe point of waste generation is ofteninadequate and collection services areinefficient and insufficient. Final disposal inthose countries is usually a matter of

26 Different approaches to waste management in different parts of the world

transporting the collected wastes to thenearest available open space and thendischarging them. In some cases, the waste isset on fire in order to reduce its volume andto minimise the attraction of animals andvermin.

Developing countries in the process ofindustrialisation have to cope with largerquantities of more diverse materials.They areoften hosting industries which are hazardouswaste-intensive such as oil-refining,petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals manufactureand metal production. But the method forwaste disposal is still the same as mentionedearlier – uncontrolled dumping.The challengein those cases is to get from ‘no control’ to amanaged situation, and the first step towardsthat is through so-called transitionaltechnologies.

In many developing countries, the rapidpopulation growth and the increasingeconomic activity combined with a lack oftraining in modern solid waste managementpractices complicate the effort to improve thesolid waste service. Some improvements havebeen made or are under planning, for exampleextending the waste collection system andstoring the wastes under improved conditions.Table 2 (page 28) illustrates the problemsposed by the rapid growth of urban areas inChina.

3.4.2 Resource recovery in developingcountries(3)

Most developing countries have variousprocesses aimed at the recovery of materialsfrom the solid waste stream. Studies haveshown that local industries are, in some cases,strongly dependent on the availability ofsecondary materials for re-processing. Some ofthese materials include: cardboard, variouspaper products, different types of plastics andmetals.

Unfortunately, the methods used to recoversecondary materials are inefficient, disregard

the basic principles of occupational health andin some instances cause significantenvironmental problems such as the recoveryand reprocessing of automobile batteries atthe ‘home level’. Resource recovery orscavenging, as it is commonly called, takes placein most urban areas in developing countries.The process is carried out at various stages ofthe waste management system and in differentmanners. Some of the most common methodsare briefly described in the following sections.

In large urban areas with an active and well-defined commercial area or an area with alarge number of apartment buildings occupiedby people earning a high income, scavengerstypically sort through the waste before theauthorised collection vehicle arrives.The mostcommon materials that are recovered includevarious types of paper products (cardboard,newspaper, and office papers), some plasticsand aluminium containers. In most cases, thescavengers use carts or similar units for thestorage and transport of the recoveredmaterials. In areas where there is a relativelyhigh generation of recyclable materials, thescavengers store the materials in specificlocations for their eventual collection bycommercial trucks.There are isolated caseswhere scavengers travel from house to housebuying secondary materials.

Another method of scavenging takes placeduring the collection process. In this particularmethod, the collectors themselves and/orhelpers conduct a certain amount ofsegregation during the loading of the wasteinto the collection vehicles.The segregationprocess is facilitated in the situations whereopen trucks are used which allows for someof the collectors to be stationed inside thevehicle.The recyclable materials are storedeither inside the truck or on the sides of thevehicle.

The last and the certainly the most oneroustype of scavenging is the one that takes placeat the disposal site. Disposal sites, particularly

(3) This chapter is an inputby L. F. Diaz , G. M. Savage andL. L. Eggerth, CalRecovery, Inc.,Concord, California, USA.

Different approaches to waste management in different parts of the world 27

28 Different approaches to waste management in different parts of the world

Table 2: Statistics of municipal solid waste generation and transport in11 large cities in China

Source: UNEP-Infoterra China National Focal Point

Cities Year Area of road Area of road Quantity Quantity Urban Per capitathat should actually swept of refuse of faeces population refusebe swept (million m2) transported transported (million) generation

(million m2) (million tonens) (million tonnes) (kg/capita.day)Beijing 1990 35.26 32.44 3.45 2.05 5.54 1.70

1993 36.30 4.10 2.08 5.75 1.951995 39.14 4.40 2.42 5.94 2.03

Tianjin 1990 42.98 42.98 2.17 0.25 4.54 1.321993 46.37 2.03 0.22 4.58 1.211995 46.94 1.80 0.19 4.65 1.07

Shanghai 1990 26.67 23.15 2.78 2.43 7.50 1.101993 26.86 3.34 2.34 8.94 1.011995 26.47 3.72 2.16 9.22 1.10

Chongqing 1990 4.94 2.89 0.40 0.15 2.27 0.491993 9.42 0.80 1.23 2.34 0.931995 9.82 0.95 1.42 2.75 0.96

Haerping 1990 30.23 30.23 1.50 0.35 2.44 1.671993 36.66 1.80 0.42 2.58 1.921995 38.42 2.06 0.41 2.67 2.11

Shenyang 1990 39.07 37.95 2.08 0.81 5.54 1.041993 41.19 2.03 0.90 5.75 0.961995 46.60 2.33 1.22 5.94 1.07

Dalian 1990 14.80 14.45 0.70 0.18 4.54 0.411993 14.99 0.67 0.14 4.58 0.411995 17.93 0.77 0.14 4.65 0.47

Xian 1990 9.51 9.51 0.58 0.10 7.50 0.221993 11.39 0.66 0.09 8.94 0.191995 12.64 0.70 0.05 9.22 0.22

Nanjing 1990 4.40 42.8 0.61 0.30 2.27 0.741993 4.87 0.71 0.21 2.34 0.821995 6.87 0.77 0.25 2.75 0.77

Wuhan 1990 22.80 17.34 1.42 0.36 2.44 1.591993 18.45 1.55 0.38 2.58 1.641995 19.98 1.66 0.38 2.67 1.70

Guangzhou 1990 21.13 21.09 1.05 0.31 2.91 1.001993 23.06 1.55 0.34 3.04 1.401995 23.72 1.55 0.33 3.17 1.34

those located in medium and largemetropolitan areas attract hundreds and in themegacities thousands of individuals for therecovery of a variety of materials for sale.Some of the scavengers live on or near thedisposal site. Living in disposal sites is not onlydetrimental to the health of the scavengers,but, as it has been shown in several instances,it can be dangerous due to slides and fires.

The relative closeness of the disposal site tothe scavengers’ dwellings and other factorsmake it easy for them to allow theparticipation of their children and other familymembers in segregation activities.Thescavengers work at the landfills under some ofthe most precarious conditions and underdifferent climatic situations (from extremelyhot to very cold and wet conditions). In someof the very large disposal sites, the scavengersset up their rules and have been known todivide the site into areas where only specificgroups are allowed to work.

The authors are well-aware of the fact thatscavenging activities play a major role in thesurvival of many of the people that performthose activities. However, the methods usedfor the activities reduce the efficiency of thewaste management system and mostimportantly are detrimental to the health ofthe scavengers.

Scavengers that perform their activities priorto the collection phase break open bags tohave access to their contents orindiscriminately remove other materials fromcontainers and leave them on the streetincreasing the time required to collect thematerials by the formal collection sector.Resource recovery conducted during thecollection process reduces the efficiency of thecollection system. Scavengers that conducttheir work at the disposal sites have atremendous influence on the speed at whichthe collection vehicles discharge their contentsas well as on the effectiveness and efficiency ofthe tractors and/or compaction equipment.

Adequate modifications to the existingscavenging systems must be made so thatresource recovery is limited to specificlocations and those that conduct the processdo so under safe and ‘clean’ conditions. Mostimportantly, children and the elderly must beabsolutely prohibited from conducting any kindof scavenging activities.

Different approaches to waste management in different parts of the world 29

30 Waste Management

4.1 Waste management andsustainable developmentHistorically, health and safety have been themajor concerns in waste management.Thesetwo still apply – waste must be managed in away that minimises risk to human health.However, today’s society demands more thanthis: apart from being safe, waste managementmust also be sustainable. At the simplest level,sustainable waste management must thereforebe:

• efficient in terms of environmentalprotection,

• socially acceptable,• efficient in terms of economic viability.

In the past, the up-front economic cost of awaste management system was the mostimportant limiting factor in the decisionmaking process. More recently, however,environmental considerations have played anincreasingly important role in this process.Thesocial aspects of waste management, althoughnot a new concept in itself, have been includedin the decision making process to a lesserextent, as the research work into how tomeasure the impact of waste managementsystems on people’s lives is only just beginning.

The challenge today is how to reach a policywhere all three aspects are taken intoconsideration.The most important question inthis context is – how do we manage ourresources with a maximum of environmentalprotection and social acceptability?

New tools have to be developed to be ableto answer these kinds of question, tools thatcan help the policy makers in taking moresustainable decisions. It is not our goal to findone universally applicable tool but to usedifferent tools in a combination.Welfare cost

benefit analyses for example is such a tool,which could help to clarify complex issues andto deliver a clear strategy for realisingsustainable development. Furthermore materialflow analyses should also be developed andadopted by policy-makers in order to evaluatethe environmental benefit.

A structured dialogue among a broad range ofstakeholders will be needed to find new waysof policy-making.Waste managementinstitutions will be challenged to contribute tothat dialogue that will deal with the wholepicture including the supply of primaryresources, production, trade, transport andconsumption.This comprehensive approachwill help to achieve the goals of wasteminimisation and decoupling the link ofeconomic growth and waste generation.

Waste management should not only be amatter of managing end-of-pipe problems.Instead, it should be an integrated part of theoverall environmental policy towardssustainable development. It is clear that the tail(waste management) cannot wag the dog (theentire economy). Material and substance flowanalysis should be applied more widely.Focusing on the waste end alone is the wrongapproach in many cases.The goals ofdematerialisation and ‘detoxification’ of alleconomic activities in a long-term perspectivehave to become more important than goals inthe field of waste management.

The first objective for sustainable wastemanagement is clearly to reduce the amountof waste generated. However, waste will stillbe produced.The second objective istherefore to manage waste in a sustainableway.This involves minimising the overallenvironmental burdens, minimising the overalleconomic costs, and maximising the socialacceptability of the whole waste management

Implementation of sustainable development practices 31

Part 4: Implementation of sustainable developmentpractices

system.The third objective is to shift the‘waste’ focus of the whole waste debate to a‘resource’ focus. Only when wastemanagement systems evolve into optimisedresource management systems will they betruly sustainable.

To put it in a nutshell, waste management hasto become an integral part of sustainableintegrated resource and waste management.

4.2 Waste managementtoday – social dimension4.2.1 EmploymentAs the waste management industry hasdeveloped and evolved, its social importancehas increased, particularly in terms of providingemployment. Employment opportunities inwaste management have traditionally beenwithin the policy sector of local and nationalauthorities, in the regulation sector withinnational environmental protection agencies,and the industrial sector within wastetreatment companies.This is still the case inlarge parts of the world.

However, with the development of sustainablewaste management strategies, the focus onbetter uses for resources by collecting, sorting,recycling, remanufacturing and refurbishingmaterials, has given rise to new opportunitiesfor employment in the recycling sector. A largenumber of jobs have been created in the wastemanagement sector, and recycling is one of themain sub sectors continuing to show growth.

It is difficult to establish exactly how manypeople are employed in the waste sector as itis hard to identify the boundaries. In therecycling sector as one example, there is asignificant number of non-profit companies,charities and voluntary organisations workingin the sector in addition to public and privatecompanies collecting, distributing andreprocessing recyclable waste. In thedeveloping countries, there is also a largeinformal recycling industry through scavenging.

Many of the employment opportunities areregarded as ‘blue collar’ jobs that require lessskills and training and therefore provideopportunities for traditionally disadvantaged orexcluded elements of society. In addition,employment opportunities for less able bodiedand people with learning disabilities haveincreased in recent years particularly due tothe development of material reclamationfacilities (MRF).

On the other hand, we may observe a trend insome countries that the demands placed onthe waste management personnel areincreasing.This is a general change of the labourmarket that touches upon the waste industry, aswell.Waste collectors, who are in the forefrontand meet the public, are often confronted withquestions concerning source separation,recycling or other questions in relation to wastemanagement.The implementation of qualityassessment and environmental managementsystems will also put more stringentrequirements on all personnel.

The implementation of compliance schemes,requirements of local waste plans andincreased communication etc. have createdadditional ‘white collar’ jobs, as well. It is alsolikely that further legislative initiatives willgenerate more employment opportunities.

Gender perspectives are rarely discussed inthe waste management industry.(4)

4.2.2 Public participation and publicperceptionThe growth of the waste management sectorand the implementation of schemes thatinvolve the public, either in terms ofparticipation or employment, or both, havecaused the social issues associated with theindustry to become more apparent. In mostcountries, it has become increasingly difficult toobtain planning permission for landfill sites orwaste to energy facilities.The general public hasa rather negative perception of the options inthe lower half of the waste hierarchy.

(4) However, the Communeof Capri, Italy, may serve as agood example in the field offemale labour. Unemployedpeople were taken on to runa treatment plant for WEEEand other electronic wastesand waste recycling schemes.20 persons are now employedfull time and 95% of these arewomen.

32 Implementation of sustainable development practices

NIMBYism (‘not in my backyard’) has becomean important factor, as the public is focused ontheir right to a clean environment, andunfortunately there is mistrust regarding thelevel of environmental emissions associatedwith landfill and incineration even when thehighest of standards are adhered to.This publicantipathy has generally resulted from emotiverather than scientific evidence, promoted byenvironmental groups.

Often, the public has a negative perception ofthe waste industry.There is concern amongsome sectors of the industry thatenvironmental groups are unfairly targetingthem.

The negative press that the waste industry hasreceived as a result of several incidents hasmade it imperative that good clear lines ofcommunication are opened up between wastemanagers and the local population in the sitingand operation of waste facilities.The public’suncertainty concerning waste practices means itis increasingly difficult to obtain a consensus andmake people accept different wastemanagement options. Most, if not all, wastefacilities require a full environmental impactassessment, which takes into considerationenvironmental and social issues.Where lines ofcommunication were opened in the early stagesof a project and information and data wastransparent and accessible, the relationshipsbetween the public and the proposer of thewaste facility have been more positive.

The South East London Combined Heat andPower facility is a good example in the UnitedKingdom, where involvement of the public inthe decision making process throughout meantthat planning permission was eventuallygranted for what is generally regarded as anunpopular option by the public.

A number of different measures can be takento improve relations with the public andensure that good environmental practice isadhered to.These range from liaison

committees, round table discussion groups,open days, visits for schoolchildren, leafleting,and special events. Many waste treatmentfacilities establish proactive liaison committeeswith local residents, the local authority and theoperators of the plant in order to address anyissues of concern, promote goodcommunications practices, and raise thepublic’s awareness with regard to the facility.This high level of engaging the public in wastemanagement projects is becoming morewidespread, particularly in the case of morecontentious projects such as energy fromwaste and landfill.

Information provision is an important step inminimising concerns that people may haveregarding the safety of a waste managementsystem.Waste companies publishenvironmental reports on a regular basis andmake their company information moreaccessible to the public.The increased use ofthe Internet has opened up new channels ofcommunication and the waste industry isalready using it as an effective tool ininformation dissemination.

4.2.3 Environmental justiceAn important issue in relation to the socialdimension of waste management isenvironmental justice. Environmental justicecan be defined as ‘fair treatment for people ofall races, cultures, and incomes, regarding thedevelopment of environmental laws,regulations, and policies’ (US EPA). People areconcerned that minority populations and low-income populations bear a disproportionateamount of adverse health and environmentaleffects. Is the increased attention toenvironmental problems prevalent in allsegments of the society?

Environmental justice and the right to a cleanenvironment are related to the location offacilities.Today, it is very difficult to findlocations for new waste treatment plants.Citizens groups are established to demonstrateagainst attempts to locate a facility in their

Implementation of sustainable development practices 33

neighbourhood.Those demonstrations and thepublic opposition are often sufficiently strongto force the planners to make changes to theproject. But successful opposition dependsupon the capacity, time, number andcompetence of the complainants to pursuetheir interests.

One would tend to draw the conclusion thathigher-income populations are in a betterposition to mobilise the effort needed toparticipate actively in the public debate on thelocation of sites for waste facilities. Indeveloping countries, the lack of efficient wasteplanning, communication channels and sitepermission procedures and above all, morebasic preoccupations, may further increase theproblem.

4.2.4 Occupational healthOccupational health is another social issue inthe context of sustainable development, whichmust be given sufficient attention.There is arisk of replacing an outside environmentalproblem by an internal environment problem.The well-documented traditional accidents andrisks for waste collectors are replaced by newhealth risks.Technical solutions and changes inworking routines have been introduced toreduce the risk of, for example, sharp andcutting waste and accidents connected toheavy lifting. But the changes in the wastemanagement chain that were made to obtainsustainable waste management have notsufficiently taken into account the issue ofoccupational health.

The collection of a biodegradable fraction andits impact on the health of the wastecollectors, for example, has not beensufficiently investigated. Another example is theworking conditions at sorting plants where, forthe whole or parts of the sorting process,manual sorting takes place.This problem isespecially difficult at sorting facilities thatreceive household hazardous waste indispersed quantities and often without properlabelling or indication of content.

A number of measures have been taken tominimise the risks and unpleasant workingconditions, but fact is that the effects onhuman health have not been sufficientlyinvestigated.This issue is also directly related tothe concept of environmental justice, as mostof the jobs referred to above are low qualifiedand low-paid jobs.

4.3 Waste managementtoday – economic dimensionThe economic aspects of waste managementcan be divided into the three followingcategories:

• costs,• funding of waste management,• taxes.

The first two points will be described in thischapter ; the issue of taxes is discussed insection 5.3.1 on economic instruments.

4.3.1 CostsThe total cost for waste management dependson the system in place, and the funds allocatedto waste management determine the future ofthe system.This is an area where greatvariations will be found in different regions ofthe world. In developed countries, theallocation of resources is assured byestablished organisational structures and bythe public’s interest, willingness and capacity topay. Many developing countries have a largenumber of citizens who are not at allconcerned about the cleanliness of the urbanneighbourhood and the allocated resourcesare small. But they are of critical importancebecause they usually consume a substantialfraction of urban revenues.

Table 3 below provides an overview of theannual expenditure on urban services andwaste services in a number of cities.The costof a waste service is compared with the stateof national prosperity (measured in GNP percapita).Where data on total urban

34 Implementation of sustainable development practices

Implementation of sustainable development practices 35

Table 3: Urban expenditure, total and on waste, selected cities and years

Sources1 World Bank,Washington, D.C., 19972 Mazumdar, N.B. Municipal waste management: the Indian

perspective. Energy environment monitor, 12(2):57-69(1996)

3 Canrede Inc., Resource Development Engineers andPlanners,Whitby, Canada, 1996

4 EX Corporation and Yachiyo Engineering Co.Ltd, forJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The studyon the solid waste management system for BucharestMunicipality in Romania – Final report. Bucharest, Ministryof Public Works and Regional Planning, 1995

5 Canadian Urban Institute ,Toronto, 1996 Bartone, C.R et al. Private sector participation in municipal

solid waste service: experience in Latin America. Wastemanagement and research, 9(6) (1991).

7 Preliminary data provided by World Bank,Washington,D.C., 1998

8 Solid Waste Management in Hanoi,Vietnam.WarmerBulletin, 44 (1995).

9 Compiled from: (i) Porter, R.C. The economics of waterand waste: a case study of Jakarta, Indonesia. Aldershot,Avebury, 1996; (ii) World Bank. Private sectorparticipation in solid waste management, Indonesia, 1995;and (iii) PT Katika Pradiptaprisma. Promotion of wasterecycling and reuse in developing countries, JakartaMetropolitan City, Final report, April 1992. Bandung,1992.

10 Hassan, M.N. & Rahman, R.A. Solid waste management inMalaysia: existing solution, issues and problems. Wastemanagement and research (accepted for publication),1998.

11 Lahore Municipal Corporation, Lahore, Pakistan, 1988.12 Greater London Council, London, United Kingdom, 1993.13 World Bank,Washington, D.C., 1997.14 Said, N. Management of solid waste in Morocco. University

of Mohammed V, Ecole Supérieure de Technologie, Sale,Morocco, 1993.

15 U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Bureau of theCensus. City government finances, 1991-1992,Washington, D.C., 1994

16 WHO European Centre for Environment and Health,Nancy, 1997.

17 World Bank. Private sector participation in solid wastemanagement, Indonesia. 1995.

18 Beverage Industry Environment Council. Domestic wastemanagement in Sydney: costs and efficiencies. Sydney,1997 (research project)

19 Tokyo Municipal Corporation. The fiscal outlook for theMetropolis of Tokyo, 1989.Tokyo. 1990

20 Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Municipal financialinformation, 1994.Toronto, Queen’s Printer for Ontario,1996.

Source:WHO, 1998

Annual expenditureCity Year Total urban Solid Waste GNP % GNP

expenditure USD per capita per capita spent onUSD per capita waste

Accra1 1994 2.76 0.66 390 0.17Ahmedabad2 1995 24.27 1.61 350 0.46Bogota3 1994 7.75 1,620 0.48Bombay2 1995 63.65 3.92 350 1.12Bucharest4 1995 94.75 2.37 1,450 0.16Budapest5 1995 310 13.80 4,130 0.33Buenos Aires6 1989 10.15 2,160 0.47Caracas6 1989 6.67 2,450 0.27Dhaka7 1995 8.31 1.46 270 0.54Hanoi8 1994 2.00 250 0.80Jakarta9 1993 82.75 2.50 740 0.34Kuala Lumpur10 1994 15.25 4,000 0.38Lahore11 1985 9.70 1.77 390 0.45London12 1991 46 16,550 0.28Madras13 1995 14.75 1.77 350 0.51Moroccan cities14 1990 1.12-2.03 950 0.12-0.21New York15 1992 5,804 97 23,240 0.42Riga5 1995 153 6.00 2420 0.25São Paulo6 1989 13.32 2540 0.52Strasbourg16 1995 1,600 63 24,990 0.25Surabaya17 1993 3.90 740 0.53Sydney18 1995 38 18,720 0.20Tallinn5 1995 8.11 3,080 0.26Tokyo19 1987 3,010 100 15,840 0.63Toronto20 1994 2,043 48 19,510 0.25

expenditure per capita was available, it hasbeen added. From this it is possible to portraythe proportion of waste costs to total urbanexpenditure.The data should be taken asindicative only, because no two cities providefully comparable services, and no uniformurban accountancy system has been adoptedto permit reliable comparisons. However, thedata permit some assessment of relative costburdens in these cities.

The costs implied with waste management canbe divided into three categories:

• overhead as for administration, planning,information, enforcement, inspections etc.New costs occur for municipalities whendifferent systems for household hazardouswaste, batteries, electrical and electronicwaste etc. are implemented;

• collection and transport; significantrationalisations have been made, but withincreased separation at source the industrywill be confronted with increased;

• treatment of waste; the costs increase aswell.

The total costs for waste management seemto be increasing and the allocation of financialresources to the different components ischanging.The increase in the overall costsrelated to waste management is less importantthan might be expected. Costs for collectionand transportation have decreased due toincreased efficiency, improved collectiontechnologies and better logistics.

On the other hand, overhead and treatmentcosts have increased.The legal requirementson treatment facilities and the politicalambitions to make better use of waste haveimplied higher costs. As referred to on severaloccasions in this report, the increasing needfor information for and dialogue with thepublic has incurred increased costs, as well.Some costs are new in the sense that theycorrespond to services that were not carriedout before.

Furthermore, what is done must be done withan improved environmental performance. Inseveral countries, different taxes on waste havebeen introduced in order to divert waste fromlandfill to options higher up in the wastehierarchy.Those taxes are constituted in anumber of different ways and are sometimesreturned to the industry. But they willnevertheless increase the costs for the disposalof waste.

4.3.2 Financing/cost recoveryThe financing of waste management differsfrom one country to another. Fees andcharges recover the costs for wastemanagement but taxes are also used. In somecases, there is no direct recovery from thecollective using the waste services; instead, theservice is financed by the general municipalbudget.The contributor is normally thehousehold.

Developing countries face the problem thatpeople can hardly afford to pay for the wasteservice and are often not willing to do so. Atthe same time, local taxation systems are ofteninadequately developed and the financial basisfor waste management services is weak.Thereare systems, in both developed and developingcountries, in which the costs for wastemanagement are linked to the electricity orwater bill to ensure that the services providedare paid for.

Countries with well-established procedures forwaste management cost recovery nowexamine new systems to recover costs. Adilemma that may be observed in somecountries with far-reaching source separationand a high level of public engagement in wasteprevention, recycling and separation is thatpeople expect to pay less since they discardsmaller amounts of waste.

Citizens who take an active role in theminimisation of waste consider it a reasonablecompensation for their effort to be chargedless. Instead, they may even notice that costs

36 Implementation of sustainable development practices

are increasing. It is an important function ofthe waste management authorities to explainthe mechanism behind the cost charged to theconsumer and which elements the chargeconsists of.

There is a trend towards promoting the fairerdistribution of waste management costs acrosshouseholds.The base for calculating this fee orcharge can be made in a variety of ways – byhousehold, by weight or volume, by size ofdomicile. Another trend is the use ofdifferentiated waste fees to change publicbehaviour. Households play an important rolein waste management.The application ofservice-related fees is a direct, visible andimmediate means of influencing people’sbehaviour.

4.4 Waste managementtoday – environmentaldimension4.4.1 Environmental effectsWaste that is not properly collected, storedand treated gives rise not only to detrimentalenvironmental effects, but, what is even moreurgent, it poses a risk to public health.The firstpriority is therefore to ensure the propercollection and storage of waste in order tominimise risks to both the environment and topublic health. In countries without sufficientcoverage of collection services, the resultingadverse environmental effects clearlycorrespond to the lack of collection services.

A number of environmental effects ispotentially caused by the waste managementindustry and all of them should be properlycontrolled.Waste management affects theenvironment through land use, throughpollution with hazardous substances thatescape into air, water and soils.Waste facilitiesproduce greenhouse gases in varyingquantities, either in the form of methane gasfrom landfill sites or carbon dioxide fromcomposting or energy from waste plants.

Other influences on the air environment arethe destruction of the ozone layer caused byrefrigerants and rain acidification caused bysulphur dioxide and oxides from nitrogen fromincineration plants.The waste managementindustry also affects the soil, ground andsurface waters through leachate escape fromlandfills, land spreading and waste storage.Leachate may contain persistent, toxic and bio-accumulable compounds, and nutrients thatcan cause eutrophication.

4.4.2 Waste quality and quantitiesWaste management is a service industryproviding recycling, recovery and differenttreatment methods and final disposal.Thewaste generated by the industry itself isminimal, especially considering the amountsthat the industry receives.The environmentaleffects of the industry are in direct relation tothe quality and quantity of the waste itreceives.

In the last decades, the awareness ofsustainable consumption has increased andthere is a trend to phase out a number ofproducts and substances that have direct andunquestionable effects on human health andon the environment (asbestos, PCBs etc).Thishas had positive effects on the environmentand there is a large number of good exampleswhere the environment and its fauna and floraare recovering well.The trend of detoxificationof production and consumption has also hadits effects on the environmental performanceof the waste industry. But there is stillimportant work to be done to increase thequality of waste through preventive actions inthe production and consumption phases.

One measure that affects both the quality andthe quantity of the waste requiring disposal isthe source separation of a number of types ofwaste that are known to generateenvironmental nuisances (household hazardouswaste). As to the quality aspect, some fractionscause harm when found in the general MSWstream, but if taken care of correctly, the

Implementation of sustainable development practices 37

environmental effects can be limited. Somewaste fractions have a positive economic valueand can be sold on the market.The possibilityto sell waste fractions and the price obtainedis in direct relation to its quality, becausecleanliness and purity enhance its value.Therefore source separation is a necessaryrequirement.With regard to the quantity,source separation has a preventative effect andit increases the public awareness of wastemanagement by making families aware of theirresponsibility for the separation of their waste.

The technology and operation processes arealso improving and can still be optimised tocontrol the environmental effects caused bythe specific waste treatment method. In thedeveloped countries, the environmental effectsof individual waste treatment facilities haveimproved substantially during the last years.But the quantities of waste produced are stillrising; therefore the total pollution from thewaste industry is also still increasing.Technicalimprovements will continue to minimise theenvironmental effects of waste management –especially in countries where the standard forwaste treatment is low. But the main challengeis to minimise the quantity of waste that goesto waste treatment facilities.

4.4.3 Hazardousness of wasteOne of the most important goals of the wastehierarchy is to prevent and minimise theamount of waste.The aim for the waste thatcannot be prevented or minimised is torender it as least hazardous as possible.

Waste management is subject to strictlegislation in most developed countries andthe highest of standards are adhered to in aneffort to limit the environmental impact of thedifferent processes and operations. Butemissions from landfill and incinerationprocesses can lead to air, land and waterpollution on a local and global scale.This iswhy it is so important to have regulations thatensure that standards are maintained,legislation is adhered to and potential impactsare minimised.

The quality of waste reflects the productionand consumption patterns of society.Thatmeans that efforts must be made in othersectors of society, as well (for example,chemical policy).

38 Implementation of sustainable development practices

Within the waste industry, a wide range ofinstruments is used to implementenvironmental policies and attain setenvironmental goals. Some are voluntary andothers are regulatory, some again are financialwhereas others are aimed at raising awarenessand public perception. Nevertheless, the mainpriority and the basis for further action is theadoption of a regulatory frameworkconnected with sufficient means to reach goalsand objectives set.

5.1 Regulatory framework5.1.1 Waste policyWaste management can no longer beregarded as a single activity carried out by thelocal authorities. It is one part of societyinfrastructure that depends upon a number ofother factors. An overall national or regionalwaste policy determines and governs theframework for the activities in the wastesector.

Most countries do have a waste policy, but along-term and well-prepared waste policy isstill requested by the waste industry all overthe world. A clear, concise and consistentpolicy is a necessary requirement for thewaste industry to establish and set up wastemanagement systems and make necessaryinvestments.

The content and the quality of existing wastepolicies vary considerably. Apart fromconsidering environmental and health aspects,a waste policy must take into considerationsocio-economic, political, structural and culturalfactors.The lack of traditional procedures andof a proper understanding of how to integrateall the relevant factors is a hindrance tosuccessful waste policy. Some factors maychange rapidly – which will have an effect onthe policy – and others may contradict eachother.

Nevertheless, a well-established and supportedwaste policy is of crucial importance for thestate of the waste management in any country.Another limiting factor is the financialresources required to ensure the realisation ofa well-functioning infrastructure for thetreatment of waste.

One element common to most waste policiesis a waste hierarchy.This hierarchy is astepwise approach to waste management inthe order of environmental priority fordifferent waste management options.Thegeneral principle of the waste hierarchy is asfollows:(5)

• waste minimisation and reuse,• recovery and recycling,• safe final disposal.

How flexibly should this hierarchy be applied,and secondly, which components constitutethe different levels of the hierarchy? Webelieve that the hierarchy must be seen as ageneral guideline and as a good basis forestablishing a waste policy.The ranking wasmade with regard to the environmental effectsand does not take into considerationeconomic and social criteria. Any decision musttake into account a broader range of factorsthan just considering the environmental effects.

A waste hierarchy based on the ranking aboveforms a good basis for the creation of a wastepolicy if the hierarchy is applied with flexibilityand takes into account economic and socialcriteria. If the waste policy is furthermore wellelaborated and contains clear, concise andconsistent objectives and measures, the wasteindustry has the necessary political frameworkto plan and organise the local wastemanagement system. (5) Some countries have

developed a slightly differentwaste hierarchy - it is oftenmore detailed - but the maingrouping of the hierarchy isglobally recognised.

Means of implementation 39

Part 5: Means of implementation

The second issue mainly concerns the finaldisposal option. In most countries, biologicaltreatment is considered as a recycling optionthrough the recuperation of compost andother end-products. Incineration with energyrecovery is considered as final disposal. As withall waste management options, there are largedifferences in the performance and efficiencylevels of different incineration facilities and therole of that option in different countries. Insome parts of the world waste-to-energymakes an important input to public districtheating and is therefore regarded differentlyfrom incineration that takes place withoutenergy recovery.

In other parts of the world, incineration isliterally a ‘technology’: to put waste on fire toreduce its volume and the risks for diseases.

5.1.2 Legal framework – effectiveimplementation and enforcementApart from the adoption of a detailed andwell-structured waste policy, the wasteindustry requires a legal framework thatenables it to reach set objectives and targets.A well-elaborated legal framework will assist inthe effective implementation of those targets.The legal framework must also be providedwith an effective enforcement system.

In most countries, environmental legislationwas introduced as a reaction to an occurringenvironmental problem.There is often a lackof coordination between different pieces oflegislation that protect different environmentalinterests. Legislation is often incoherent, aswell, since it was developed at different timesand for different reasons, protects differentinterests and encompasses different objectives.

In the context of environmental legislation, theEU is superior to national legislation. It hasinstituted a large number of different legal actsin the field of environmental protection.Theresult is a good example of a legal frameworkthat has responded to environmentalproblems rather than being proactive.The

Commission has announced that they believethat the pieces of legislation necessary for thetime being have been adopted and that focusmust be made on consolidation.

Most modern waste legislation containsrequirements on licensing, authorisation andcompliance for waste management facilities.Those requirements are complemented withpowers of inspection and enforcement.This isnormally referred to as ‘command-and-control’.The legal framework constitutes thebaseline. In several parts of the world, theindustry has become a driving environmentalforce that even goes ahead of the legislator insome aspects.

5.1.3 Waste planningThe national and/or regional waste policytogether with the legal framework forms thebasis for waste planning on regional or locallevel.The general policy must be transformedinto tangible action and the establishment of asystem that provides a service to the citizens.

Thus, efficient waste planning is anothernecessary element to ensure a well functioningwaste management system.Waste planning atlocal level is often insufficient when comparedto national planning. Again, local factors mustbe taken into consideration in the preparationof a waste management plan. Experience andinformation can be transferred to andcollected from other regions and localities, buteach plan is specific to the local circumstances.One major problem in the field of wasteplanning is the lack of competent and skilledhuman resources.This problem is especiallypressing in developing countries.

Local waste planning is of more tangiblecharacter and a local waste plan willencompass figures on waste quantities, wastecomposition and treatment capacity.Typically, itwill also contain measures on wasteminimisation and prevention, on recycling andon a reduction of waste going to landfill. Awell-prepared waste plan at local level can be

40 Means of implementation

a very useful tool for local waste managers toimprove local waste management.Furthermore, the long-term planning assists inmaking provisions and enables waste managersto be pro-active before it comes todeficiencies in the system (bottlenecks in thedisposal capacity, major investments etc).

In developing countries, waste planning isconcerned with other issues and realities; themost limiting factor is how to achieve themost with the limited funds available to thewaste service. But improvements are notnecessarily dependent on massive investments.Developing countries can probably increasetheir performance by using what they alreadyhave in a more efficient way. Goodorganisational structure and a high-qualitymanagement are two other important factorsfor efficient waste management.The process ofwaste planning forces people to considerthose factors; it may help to stress theirimportance.

5.2 Market-based initiatives5.2.1 Public procurementThe market for public procurement is largeand therefore the potential to makeenvironmental improvements is considerable.Environmental considerations can beintroduced as an important aspect in thesetting of tender specifications and evaluationof the responses.

Again, the legal framework is of importance inpublic procurement. In most countries, publicprocurement is regulated concerning both thecontent of the tenders and the criteria forevaluating the responses.The legal frameworkmay hinder the consideration of environmentaleffects at the evaluation stage if that implieshigher costs. On the other hand, publicprocurement can also enhance the markets forrecyclables by promoting (or even makingobligatory) the use of recyclable materials inproducts that are subject to a tenderingprocess.

With the current trend towards deregulationand increased competitiveness in the industryand with the role of the local wastemanagement authority as increasingly one ofplanning, determining and buying wasteservices, the role of public procurementbecomes increasingly important.The buyerneeds to be competent in order to buy welland to know what to ask the service providerfor. It is not a question of only looking at theprice – but to look at the price for a givenquality and quantity level as specified by thebuyer.

There is a large number of innovative andsuccessful tenders, but it would require toomuch space to report them here.Therefore,we would like to give some examples ofenvironmental considerations that could bespecified in a tender for waste managementservices:

• definition of the level of environmentalperformance required,

• requirement that an environmentalmanagement scheme be used as part of aprocess,

• environmental classification of vehicles,• green fuel standard used in vehicles,• requirements on primary materials and

recycled material in products,• stipulation that a product or its

components must have an eco-label orenergy label or similar environmental labelif available,

• requirement on personnel involved to havespecific training or specific environmentalexperience.

5.2.2 Environmental managementsystemsWithin the commercial sector, the drivetowards more sustainable practices hasresulted in an increase in the implementationof environmental management systems(EMS).(6) In some countries, the localauthorities have also taken the step towardsimplementing an EMS.The waste management

(6) There are two mainrecognised systems for EMS:the worldwide recognised ISO14001 and the Europeanvoluntary scheme EMAS (EcoManagement and AuditScheme). But there is noobligation to have an EMScertified or registered.

Means of implementation 41

industry (both public and private) has a highpublic profile and is closely scrutinised by localresidents, pressure groups and environmentalauthorities.Therefore it is advantageous andnecessary for the industry to improve itsenvironmental performance and thus alsoimprove its image by addressing environmentalissues.

The scope of environmental improvementsthrough an EMS can be considerable. Manywaste management organisations are alreadyreaping the rewards.The waste industry istherefore in a unique position to set anexample for high standards in environmentalmanagement.

The arguments for implementing an EMS inthe waste industry are the same as in otherindustries. But it can be argued that the wasteindustry is more closely connected to theenvironment than other industry sectors.Whatever method is used to treat or disposeof waste, it is ultimately the environment thatis used to dilute, disperse, break down orstabilise the waste. Furthermore, the wasteindustry in its role as a public service provideris not in the position to prescribe the qualityof the waste that is delivered to them fortreatment and/or disposal. By implementing anEMS, the waste industry can demonstrate thatthey take the environmental effects of theiractivity seriously.

An EMS at its simplest has a systematicapproach to understanding how the laws of acountry affect an organisation’s activities, toidentifying which environmental effects itsactivities may generate, to developing astrategy of how to reduce and control theseeffects and finally of how to communicate tothe public the actions taken and the results ofthose actions. However, waste companies areincreasingly seeking recognition for thestandards they are achieving, which results inmore companies registering for EMAS orISO14001.(7)

A study carried out by a number of Europeanwaste management organisations in 1999showed that there is an interest within theEuropean waste industry to implement anEMS. At that time the number of EMAS-registrations and ISO 14001-certifications wasnot very high. But the number of companiesparticipating is continually increasing.

5.2.3 Life cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysisSpecific tools, such as life cycle assessments(LCA), are extremely useful when we considerthe overall impact of a product and assess itssustainability. LCA measures inputs andoutputs, from the mining of the resources tofinal disposal. It can take into considerationenvironmental benefits and costs and includethe technical, social and economic implicationsof different waste management options.

LCA has been used to an increasing extent byenvironmental groups or as a marketinginitiatives. LCA can be used to comparecomparative acceptability of consumerproducts, such as disposable nappies versuscotton nappies, plastic drinks containers versusglass. But it can also be used in more complexsituations as when evaluating the setting up ofa local waste management system in order todetermine which treatment methods to relyon. Any LCA will, of course, depend on thelocal circumstances and the results may varyfrom one region to another.

The following example of LCA used in thewaste industry is from the United Kingdom.The WISARD (Waste Integrated SystemsAssessment for Recovery and Disposal)computer software launched by the UnitedKingdom Environment Agency was designed tohelp waste managers identify more sustainable,integrated approaches to waste management.The system uses life cycle assessment forrecovery and disposal and allows modelling ofall aspects of different waste managementsystems and compares their environmentalimpacts.

(7) There are also examplesof national ‘simplified’programmes. In Norway, forexample, there is a localenvironmental certificationscheme for companies named‘Miljøfyrtårn’.This certificationis much easier to obtain forsmall-sized companies thanISO 14000 certification. It isorganised by the localmunicipality and is a co-operation of the industry andthe local authorities. 240enterprises have so farachieved certification and 60municipalities have started tocertify municipally ownedcompanies.

42 Means of implementation

Another example is an Austrian study(8) basedon LCA and CBA that compares one-waybeverage packaging with refillables.The resultsled to significant changes in the Austrianlegislation regarding targets for beveragepackaging.

5.2.4 StandardisationStandards within the waste industry can covereverything from the bins used for collection toreferences for the best available technology.Even if waste management must take intoconsideration local, political, cultural and socio-economic factors in each country, there is stillsome scope left for the co-operation acrosscountry borders.

A number of organisations promote bestpractice and the creation of best practiceguidelines for the waste industry.The EU hasset up a body with the aim to establishreference documents for different activitiescovered by the EU Directive on IntegratedProduction and Pollution Control.(9) There arealso different national initiatives to set nationalstandards.We believe that the correct way ofsetting standards in a globalised world is toturn to the international scene first and try toset standards there. Only if this attempt failsshould recourse be made to nationalstandards.

5.2.5 Voluntary initiativesIn a large number of countries, different formsof voluntary initiatives have been introduced.There is no uniform terminology for voluntaryinitiatives, but it is a large field thatencompasses a large number of differentactions.

There have always been voluntary initiatives inthe waste sector for the collection of differentseparated waste fractions.The establishment ofthose initiatives relied upon a positiveeconomic market for the material in question.Different associations (charities, sport clubs,etc.) collected material to sell in order toreceive money.

Another kind of voluntary initiative areinitiatives taken by industry to show theirgoodwill and sense of responsibility in differentaspects – environmental, social or educational.Different companies have launched take-backschemes in order to keep a highenvironmental profile. Any such schemes areof benefit to the waste management as theynormally tend to sort out a waste fraction thatis not desirable in the feed stock (for exampleprinter toners, ink cartouches, mobiletelephones, batteries etc).

Voluntary agreements have recently becomeone way for the industry to be proactive toavoid detailed national legislation. In Norway,for example, there is at the moment no legalregulation of the collection and recyclingtargets for packaging waste.The governmentand the industry have agreed on a voluntaryinitiative on the part of the industry to fulfilcertain collection and recycling targets. As longas the industry lives up to its commitment, thegovernment is not going to regulate.The list ofsuch examples could be very long.

5.3 Economic instrumentsThere are different economic instruments thatare increasingly used either directly in thewaste industry (for example landfill taxes) orat levels that directly influence the generationof waste (taxes or fees on packaging). It is verydifficult to compare different financial initiativesin different countries since there is nocommon ground either for the definition oftaxes, charges, fees etc. or for defining whocontributes to them. A broad range ofinstruments, including economic instrumentswhere appropriate, in the right mix is mostlikely to achieve the goals set.

A simple explanation of an economicinstrument used in waste management quicklybecomes complex.The costs for wastemanagement include taxes and charges, and insome countries taxes are used as the basis forthe funding of waste management systems.

(8) The legislative authoritiesand the relevant industriesjointly commissioned theexpert opinion expressed inthis study.(9) The ReferenceDocuments (BREFs) must betaken into account when thecompetent authorities of EUMember States determine theconditions for IPPC permits.The BREFs will inform thedecision makers about whatmay be technically andeconomically available to theindustry in order to improvetheir environmentalperformance andconsequently improve thewhole environment.

Means of implementation 43

What is a tax in one country may be a chargein another; a fee in one country does notnecessary have an equivalent in anothercountry.

In a large number of countries, there is a trendto shift the focus towards effective market-based and other economic instruments suchas environmental charges and the use of fiscalinstruments to achieve waste policy goals.

Below we have tried to distinguish betweendifferent financial instruments that are used tochange people’s behaviour or that simplyindicate a preferred direction of policy andmeans of recovering the costs for wastemanagement services.

5.3.1 TaxesSimilar measures may be defined variously astaxes, charges, levies, fees and duties indifferent countries.The definition of a term inone language does not necessarily have anexact counterpart in other languages.Thereare also differences between taxes; some areexplicitly recognised as having anenvironmental purpose whereas others havesignificant effects on the environment althoughtheir original purpose was revenueconsiderations. In the following, we distinguishbetween fiscal instruments and measures thatare explicit or implicit payments for variousservices.The latter type of instrument isdiscussed in chapter 4.3.2 ‘financing/costrecovery’.

Taxes can be divided into different categories:• cost-covering charges where the revenue is

used either to pay for disposal services orto finance recycling;

• incentive taxes levied to changeenvironmentally damaging behaviour (withno specific intention to raise revenues);

• fiscal environmental taxes where thesurplus revenue from the tax can be usedto finance budget deficits or shift taxesfrom labour to resources.This can also bereferred to as ETR – ecological tax reform.

In 1997, the European Commission presenteda communication on Environmental Taxes andCharges in the Single Market. The papersupports the increased use of fiscalinstruments to make environmental policymore efficient and cost-effective and to ensurethat the environmental taxes and charges areused in ways that are compatible withCommunity legislation. At EU-level, anyeconomic instrument must in design andapplication avoid trade barriers and adistortion of competition. Customs duties andcharges with similar effects are not accepted.This goes for state-aid rules, as well.

A comparison of taxes is often misleadingsince both the tax-base and the tax-rate differfrom one country to another. It is difficult toget comparable figures unless we study therules and applications of a tax.The structuresand the objectives of taxes are comparable,however.(11)

5.3.2 Cost recovery – waste fees andchargesIn this section, we will discuss the use of wastefees and charges as tools to instigate a certaindesirable behaviour on the part of thepopulation. As already mentioned above, thefunding of waste management differs from onecountry to another. Fees, charges and taxes areused to recover the costs for wastemanagement.The legal status of theseinstruments may differ considerably as maythose who contribute to the fee or charge. Inthe case of municipal waste, it is normally thehouseholds that finance the system.

The different methods for recovering the costsfrom the households are a good means toinfluence and change public behaviour. It canalso be a way of making people aware of thefact that their behaviour has an impact onwaste generation.When the costs arerecovered via a tax, the use of innovativemethods is less transparent. It may even bedifficult to be transparent and show the costsof the waste management system to the

(11)The United Kingdom, forinstance, has a landfill tax thatindirectly also provides incomeand economic support forother sectors via the landfilltax credit scheme. Landfilloperators can use 20% oftheir landfill tax contributionto support or developenvironmental projects, thusgenerating furtheremployment and investmentopportunities.The scheme isintended to direct at least40% of the money available torecycling and wasteminimisation projects.

44 Means of implementation

citizens.The waste management services willthen be one item among others in the generalmunicipal budget.

Recovering costs via a charge or fee makes iteasier to design the system in a innovative wayand in a way also to support a specificbehaviour.The task of identifying and allocatingcosts is a good exercise for the wastemanagement authorities.

When fees or charges are used to fund theservice provided, it is easier to make thewhole process transparent and tocommunicate to the contributor what he isactually paying for.This is why differentiatedwaste fees are used to an increasing extent: tochange public behaviour or to promote afairer distribution of waste management costsacross households.The behaviour at householdlevel plays an important role in wastemanagement.The application of fees andcharges is a direct, visible and immediatemeans of influencing their behaviour. Byconstructing the fee or charge in a certain way,the households can be encouraged to displaycertain behaviour.The waste quantitiesgenerated by households vary considerably asdo the efforts to reduce those quantities.

The base for calculating the fee or charge canbe made in many different ways.(12) Some partof the costs will always be fixed since it doesnot occur in relation to the quantity of waste(planning and information, for example),whereas other parts of the costs could bevariable. If a part of the costs depends on theamount collected or on the number of timesthe waste is collected, the households couldinfluence their contribution.The differentiatedapproach may help to attain a set goal(13), butreverse effects must be closely examined.

5.4 Informative instruments5.4.1 Raising awareness and promotingpublic participationIn a large number of countries, the localauthorities launch education projects andawareness raising initiatives. Most localauthorities have in employment a wasteminimisation officer, recycling officer or Agenda21 officer. Many waste management companiesalso run a communication and public relationsprogramme.Those campaigns aim either atgenerally raising awareness, or they aim atgiving more detailed and specific information.

Another important issue in this context ispublic participation in projects prior to theirrealisation, especially if these projects are likelyto have an impact on people’s lives. In mostcountries, environmental impacts assessmentsare required for a large number ofinfrastructure projects. One of thecomponents in such assessments is that ofestablishing communication with the public.Here again, cultural differences influence theway in which the public communication takesplace and which importance it is accorded inthe decision-making process.

One chapter of the New Spanish Urban WasteNational Plan 2000-2006 deals with the issueof public consciousness. A general programmefor raising public awareness will be launched,with a special programme for the differentactivities in municipal waste management.(14)

In 2000, the Swedish Ministry of theEnvironment launched an informationcampaign to promote the separate collectionof household hazardous waste.The aim of thecampaign was to increase public knowledge ofhazardous substances and hazardous waste.The campaign was arranged together with themunicipalities.

(12) By household, by weightor volume, or by size ofdomicile.(13) For example, reducewaste quantities, encouragerecycling, introduce a systemof payment in relation toservice utilised, etc.(14) The budget for thisprogramme is a total of 12million Euro.ThisConsciousness Programmewill be co-ordinated withother initiatives in the field ofprofessional qualification anddevelopment in agreementwith the representatives of theUnion of Workers.TheProfessional Qualifications andTraining budget totals almost60 million Euro.

Means of implementation 45

In the United Kindom, the campaign ‘Are youdoing your bit?’ is another example of anationwide awareness campaign.The £25million publicity campaign was launched by thegovernment to promote sustainable lifestyles.Simple environmental messages (for exampleon recycling) are broadcast through TV, pressand radio advertisements in addition roadshows and special events.

5.4.2 Professional qualifications andtrainingIt is of crucial importance to have an effectiveand competent workforce at all levels of wastemanagement. Compared with other fieldswithin the sector of civil engineering, wastemanagement lacks a structured academicapproach to get the required professionalqualifications. During the last ten years,different environmental programmes werebooming, with the issue of waste managementforming part in varying degrees. In developingcountries, there is also an acute problemcaused by the lack of academic programmesto achieve diplomas in waste managementsubjects.

With regard to education and training, theInternational Solid Waste Association (ISWA)and its national members offer training courseson a range of waste management issuesdesigned for different levels. Both national andinternational consultancies and other trainingproviders offer different types of in-housetraining in environmental management forbusiness and the industry. Many wastemanagement companies have also taken upthe challenge of internal educationprogrammes, mostly as part of their qualityand environmental management schemes.Today, such initiatives form an integral part ofthe social and ethic dimension of corporatepolicies.

In the era of new communicationtechnologies, there is a large number ofexamples where Web-based resources areused to enhance training opportunities and to

spread information and knowledge in the fieldof waste management. A number ofuniversities is also offering distance-learningcourses to provide training for those alreadyemployed in this sector.There is a need notonly to prepare people entering the sector, butalso to make people active in the sectorevaluate their practical experience and toencourage them to go in for higher education.

5.4.3 Environmental reportingEnvironmental reporting is a way of presentingthe environmental effects of an activity in aclear and systematic manner. Environmentalreporting is complementary to financialreporting and so far, only a few countriesimpose legal obligations to provideenvironmental reports. On the other hand, themarket is pushing for those reports andcompanies in the waste industry areincreasingly interested in demonstrating theirenvironmental ambitions and achievements.

In Denmark, an amendment concerning greenaccounts was made to the DanishEnvironmental Protection Act in 1995.Thisamendment requires certain types of industrialsites to prepare green accounts and sendthem to the Danish Commerce andCompanies Agency. Most facilities in the wastesector are required to draw up greenaccounts.(15) Public or private companies arenot required to submit green accounts.Theyare, however, allowed to do so on a voluntarybasis.Their accounts have to fulfil the samerequirements as the compulsory greenaccounts.

The green accounts are required to beprepared and drawn up in accordance withcertain rules listed in the statutory order.Thestatement of green accounts must includethree parts:

• basic particulars;• a management report;• specification of environmental impacts

summarising the consumption of energy,

(15)E.g. waste incinerationplants and plants for theprocessing, treatment and finaldisposal of waste. Excludedfrom this obligation are usuallylandfills, collectors of waste(haulage contractors) andcomposting plants.

46 Means of implementation

water and raw materials, the nature andquantity of the most important pollutantsinvolved in the production process, theproducts and wastes as well as thedischarges to soil, water and air.

5.4.4 Research and technology transferThere is a continuing need for research andtechnology transfer between countries.Theexchange of experience can take place fromindustrialised countries to developing countriesor between developing countries.

The R&D of solid waste management is oftengiven low priority in developing countries.Handbooks and guidelines for developingcountries which discuss the choice of wastemanagement options need to becomplemented with studies that take intoconsideration the appropriate managementapproaches and technologies, local climatic andphysical conditions, the financial and humanresources as well as social and culturalacceptability.

Means of implementation 47

48 Waste Management

6.1 Key areas of progressachieved• The whole waste industry has made great

progress over the last ten years. Significantprogress has been made at a technical level.

• More and more developing countries areconcerned with sustainable wastemanagement.

• The development of national wastestrategies has also been an area ofprogress. Most developed countries haveadopted waste management plans andimplemented measures to achieve setobjectives and targets. Sustainable wastemanagement has been defined at thepolicy level and statutory targets were setto increase recycling and move away fromthe options on the lower half of the wastehierarchy.The local and/or regional wastemanagement plans have also taken shapeand in some cases they have already beensubject to first revisions.

• The most dynamic change for the publicwas the increase in public awareness andparticipation. Community recycling hasimproved and so has the willingness toparticipate in different source separationschemes.

• Another area of progress was the responseof business and industry to sustainablewaste initiatives. Important improvementshave been made in the design andconception stage of products.This canparticularly be seen within the regulatedmarket for packaging that has beenencouraged to optimise material use forpackaging.There has also been an increasein the incorporation of environmentalmanagement systems in the business andindustry sector, which has in turn led to

increased recycling and reduced wastegeneration.

6.2 Key areas for futureprogress • Waste policies have to be made more

consistent and coherent; the legalframework and its implementation andenforcement need to be improved on anational and supranational level in all partsof the world. Substantial efforts in that fieldare of greatest importance especially indeveloping countries.

• Mid-term waste management plans atnational and local level are required thatcan serve as a sound and reliable basis forthe improvement of and investments inwaste management systems.This isespecially urgent where public health isalready adversely affected.

• It is of highest priority to achieve areduction in the amount of generated wasteand to decouple the link of economicgrowth to waste generation. For thispurpose, a uniform waste industry approachis required to raise public and politicalinterest in the establishment of sustainablewaste management in all parts of the world.

• A most pressing area for future progress isinformation and education.There needs tobe a co-ordinated strategy with regard toinformation provision; considerable workneeds to be done to change people’sattitudes towards waste management as awhole and to increase participation inrecycling and minimisation schemes. Oncethe public is participating in the recyclingschemes, it is important to give themfeedback on what happens with therecycled waste to keep up their interest inparticipation.

Future challenges and goals 49

Part 6: Future challenges and goals

• Information and education are also neededto allay the fears that people have withregard to waste management and toencourage them to take responsibility forthe waste they generate. One major goalthat needs to be achieved is increasingpublic confidence in the wastemanagement sector at large. Extensivework needs to be done to remove thenegative perceptions and replace emotiveviews with views based on sound scienceand agreed facts.

• The markets for recyclables have to beimproved, as well. Producers must beencouraged to incorporate life cycleassessments (LCA) in the developmentstages of their products and consider wastemanagement issues in the design stages –something that does not happen as ageneral rule at present.

• Alternatives have to be made available sothat consumers are encouraged tominimise their waste or buy products of acomparably high standard and price thatare less harmful to the environment.

• The access to transparent and coherentwaste data is crucial if strategies are to besuccessful and sustainable wastemanagement practices achieved.Theindustry needs to have access to clear,transparent and replicable data andinformation.This access and the quality ofwaste data cause difficulties at a nationallevel, and the difficulties are even greater atthe international or regional level.The wastemanagement industry, the public sector andresearches have to become more aware ofthe present and future networkingopportunities to facilitate information flowand the exchange of know how.

• We need standards for the whole wasteindustry that include new and emergingtechnologies and also the management ofspecific waste types such as agricultural

waste. Considerable investment needs tobe made in emerging technologies andsupport should be given to R&D on anational level.

• Developing countries need appropriatetechnologies and management approacheswhich are compatible with the specific localdemands, requirements, capabilities, andresources.

• While progress has been encouraging todate, partnerships need to be developedcontinually so that all stakeholders canwork together towards a common goal.Participation by all parties in the decisionmaking progress is an important issue.Thewaste industry has to encourage and takepart in multiple stakeholder involvement.

• The key priorities and the most efficientmeasures with the biggest possible benefitfor the environment have to be identifiedon the basis of facts and figures.Tools likeenvironmental impact assessment, materialflow analysis or macro-economic cost-benefit analysis must be applied morewidely for improved and scientifically baseddecision-making.To achieve substantialprogress in the minimisation anddetoxification of wastes, a broad range ofstakeholders must be involved.

• The waste industry must set and achievesustainability targets.

• Step by step, the isolated ‘end of pipe’ viewof waste management must betransformed into integrated resource andwaste management.The system definitionsfor analyses used in decision- and policy-making must include the issues of wastegeneration and resource consumption on aglobal scale.This is especially important indeveloping countries.

• There needs to be access to training andeducation for everyone involved in waste

50 Future challenges and goals

management. An increasing awareness ofnetworking opportunities is required tofacilitate information flow.

• The practical experience of practitionersand planners, regulators and operators,scientists and researches in wastemanagement must be made more availableto developing countries and economies intransition. Immediate support and know-how transfer is most valuable as itfacilitates the implementation of soundwaste management strategies andpractices. In many cases, a small amountinvested in training and education canenable local staff and regional regulators tohelp themselves effectively.

• From a global point of view, the mosturgent need is to close the gap betweendeveloped and developing countries.Thefirst priority is to provide sufficientcollection services to as large a part of theworld’s population as possible and to raisethe quality of landfills.

6.3 Specific areas of attention6.3.1 Clear, transparent and reliabledataThorough knowledge and consistent dataabout waste generation patterns, wastecomposition and developments are necessaryrequirements in the preparation andmonitoring of efficient waste regulations and inwaste planning. It is highly important that thenational authorities provide clear, transparentand reliable data to the industry and that thewaste industry participates in the provision ofthe basic data.

6.3.2 Waste prevention andminimisation – improved resourcemanagement Most modern waste strategies recognise awaste hierarchy that has the prevention andminimisation of waste as its the first priority.But there is a direct link between economic

growth and waste production. It is a majorchallenge for the industry as a whole todecouple this link.The means to do this ismainly in sectors other than the wasteindustry itself.

Waste prevention and minimisation take placeat the conception stage of a product and notwhen it enters into a waste treatment facility.There are different approaches to reach theaim of waste prevention and minimisation.These are based on resource management –as the integrated product policy (IPP),sustainable production etc.

Within the waste industry, there are alsoseveral measures to be taken that will bedriving forces in changing production andconsumption behaviour. Economic instruments,such as taxes or differentiated gate-feesdepending on the quality of the waste, haveproved especially efficient in raising theawareness of commercial waste generators.The waste industry also plays an importantrole in communicating with the industry andcalling the industry’s attention to possibleimprovements.

6.3.3 Render waste less hazardousAnother important goal is to render wasteless hazardous.This again is closely linked toareas outside waste management. Currentchemical policies and production andconsumption patterns influence the quality ofthe waste and the environmental impact ofwaste management systems. But renderingwaste less hazardous also depends on theexisting collection systems for hazardous wasteand on the level of information and educationof both the industry and of households.Thesetting up of collection systems for householdhazardous waste will help to create publicawareness of the risks this type of waste posesto human health and to the environment. Inthe long run, this awareness will lead tochanged consumption patterns and to anincreasing demand for substitute products withless risk.

Future challenges and goals 51

The issue of rendering waste less hazardous isof great importance in developing countries,mainly for public health reasons. Mostdeveloping countries do not separate waste;the waste collected consists of householdwaste, hazardous waste and healthcare waste.Improper storage, collection and treatment ofthis waste pose a high risk to public health.This is a priority area for makingimprovements.

Hazardous waste, regardless if it originatesfrom households or industries, should not beincluded in the municipal waste fraction forseveral reasons.The most important one wasmentioned above. Another reason why theindustry is interested in ensuring thathazardous wastes are properly collected andtaken care of is of commercial nature. Asattempts are being made to create markets forrecyclables, compost and other end-productsfrom biological treatment, it is vital thathazardous waste is taken care of correctly inorder to eliminate any risk of contamination ofthose tradable waste fractions.

6.3.4 Developing countriesWaste management is often either virtuallynon-existent or unsatisfactory in developingcountries. Any measure taken will be a greatimprovement to public health and toenvironmental protection.The increasedtransfer of experience and knowledge fromthe north to the south, but also amongcountries of the south, is a factor of highimportance in this context.The first step toimprove waste management systems indeveloping countries is to use more efficientlywhat they already have and not necessarilyimmediately look at major investments toremedy the situation.

When waste management schemes are set upor improved, the large numbers of scavengershave to be considered, as well.They should beintegrated in the system in a socially balancedway that improves their health situation.

6.3.5 Economy and costsThe issue of costs is an important one, and itneeds to be addressed by all stakeholders.Currently, landfilling is still the cheapest optionand this creates difficulties when we attemptto persuade the local authorities to adoptmore sustainable practices, which wouldprobably result in higher charges. But theimplementation of a sustainable wastemanagement system needs to be fundedaccordingly.

6.3.6 Improved public perceptionA concerted effort will be needed to addressthe poor public perception of the wasteindustry today.There is severe opposition tothe siting of landfills and waste to energyfacilities, and even opposition to compostingfacilities, MRFs and recycling centres. Peoplehave to become more aware of theirresponsibility for the waste they produce.Thewaste industry needs to work closely with allstakeholders to implement a communicationstrategy to change public perception andultimately encourage the public to makelifestyle changes towards more sustainablepractices.

6.3.7 Occupational healthThis is an important issue in the field of wastemanagement that has been widely neglectedeven in the most advanced countries. In orderto avoid replacing one problem with another,we need to more research work on this topicand we have to make it a priority issue.

6.3.8 Sustainability reporting andperformance indicatorsSustainability reporting has a larger scope thanjust environmental reporting; it coverseconomic and social issues, as well.Sustainability reporting is a way for the wasteindustry to present a clear picture of theenvironmental, economic and social impacts ofthe industry. It is important that the wasteindustry establishes widely accepted reportingprinciples that should be applied consistentlyto promote transparency and credibility.The

52 Future challenges and goals

elaboration of a set of relevant performanceindicators is an issue of importance for thefuture.

6.3.9 Professional qualifications andtrainingImproving the standards of waste managementsystems will have great effect on the issue ofenvironmental protection.Therefore, we needwell-trained and highly qualified professionalwaste managers who understand the effect ofpoor operations and misguided policies on theenvironment and who have the skills necessaryto lead change.Thus, other challenges for thewaste industry are the establishment ofguidelines for professional qualifications andmore access to qualified training in the future.

6.4 Roles of otherstakeholders • There needs to be a co-ordinated

nationwide approach towards awarenessraising and information provision.This willrequire all relevant organisations to workmore closely together in delivering a singlemessage, which can then be built upon at aregional and local level.

• A greater level of awareness and increaseduse of LCA and design for theenvironment within the product design,development and manufacturing sectorswill prevent the delivery of mixedmessages to consumers and encourage theconsideration of waste managementthroughout the life cycle of a productinstead of making it an end-of-pipesolution.

• Other stakeholders should work towardsreduced use of energy and materialsresources.

• Clear lines of communication should beestablished between all other stakeholdersto encourage the dissemination of

information and the transfer of ideas andgood practice among them.

• Increased collaboration among all sectors isof paramount importance. People have torecognise the need to work togethertowards a common goal.

• A greater sense of responsibility is neededin the use of material resources and in thegeneration of waste.

• Sustainable practices should be fullyincorporated at the earliest possible time.

Future challenges and goals 53

Annexe 1:Case study 1:

Sustainable development inSwitzerland – an example ofgood practice with regard toelectronic scrap disposalIn the late-1980s, those using office andinformatics equipment in Switzerlandexpressed the view, in increasingly clear terms,that they expected instructions fromproducers as to how used equipment couldbe disposed of without a detrimental effect onthe environment.The then practice of takingsuch equipment to refuse incineration plantsor disposal sites met with resistance fromthose using such equipment, as well as theauthorities because it meant, among otherthings, that key resources were irretrievablylost and pollutants released into theenvironment.

Consequently, manufacturers and importers ofoffice and informatics equipment createdsolutions for their products which enabledcustomers to return their used equipment andhave it recycled against payment of a fee.Thisseemed to correspond to the consumers’wishes, but the solution was not viable from apractical point of view for a number ofreasons. It would have been necessary, forexample, to account for users of variousbrands of informatics equipment, and thesorting and returning of individual items wouldhave required a disproportionate effort.

The manufacturers and importers thereforeapproached their association, SWICO (SwissAssociation for Information, Communicationsand Organisational Technology, Zurich), andasked for the development of a recyclingconcept for the sector to remove thedisadvantages of individual solutions andconform to the principles of a lastingdevelopment.

The subsequent concept developed bySWICO in collaboration with its members in1993 is based on four pillars.

1. The manufacturers and importers assumeresponsibility for their products up to theend of the useful life of such equipment.This means they provide the tradecompanies and the ultimate consumerswith a working recycling system that isoperated by their association.

2. The system in which equipment is takenback operates on a region-wide basis andin line with the population’s practice ofdealing with other types of waste.Theowner of used equipment can hand it in atan allocated site; this may be themanufacturer/importer, the dealer or anofficial collection site. Returning equipmentto the dealer or manufacturer is stronglyrecommended because here are specialiststo assess the possibility to recycleequipment or parts of it.

3. Used equipment is taken back free ofcharge to make people respond to thesystem.The logistics and recycling costs arefinanced via an advance recycling feeimposed on new equipment.The costs thatarise for used equipment are thus coveredby the fees imposed on new equipment byway of a cost allocation method.

4. Specialist companies are issued licences toprocess the used equipment.Thesecompanies meet the high requirements ofprocessing, classifying pollutants accordingto types and recycling raw materialswithout undue harm to the environment.The licensed companies are continuallychecked by a control office which alsoadvises the association regarding furtherdevelopment of the recycling technology.The control office endeavours to increasethe recycling quota and improve the qualityof the recycled material.

54 Annexe 1

The concept was authorised in December1993 by the association members during anextraordinary annual general meeting.Theintroduction of the system was adopted on 1 April 1994.

However, the resolution of the associationmembers was not sufficient in itself to ensurethe implementation of the system. Since therewas no legal pressure in place at that time,companies had to be convinced one by one tosign up to the voluntary agreement.This stepwas a success as a result of the environmentalmanagement systems and concepts that areincreasingly better incorporated in thecompanies.The SWICO Recycling Guarantee– this is the name of the system – has grownfrom initial 36 members to an association ofmore than 150 members. In addition to officeand informatics equipment, appliances fromthe mobile telephone and graphics industriesare now also taken back.

After almost eight years’ operations of thesystem, the following conclusions can bedrawn.

1. The amount of returned used equipmentincreases every year.This is due to twofactors: on the one hand, the system hasbecome more widely known and, on theother hand, the amount of installedequipment has increased sharply.Theproportion of incorrectly disposedequipment has decreased significantly.

2. The processing of used equipmentaccording to strict regulations means that78% of the materials contained in suchequipment can be recycled.The sortingand dismantling of equipment is carried outby specialist companies that employ manypeople who are socially underprivileged.The SWICO Recycling Guarantee has alsoprovided the processing industry with animportant impetus. As a result of theinvestments made, the sector has becomea model of excellence, and it is taken as anexample in other countries because of its

high technical knowledge.3. The financing model of using an advance

recycling fee has proven successful.Consumers prefer to pay their contributionwhen they purchase new equipment asopposed paying it when the equipment isreturned.The system is well-designed andcomprehensive which has resulted insavings that can be passed on toconsumers in the form of low advancefees.

4. The success of the voluntary sectorsolution shows that it is possible to takesteps to achieve greater environmentalcompatibility without strict legal regulations.The assumption of responsibility by themanufacturers/importers has, on thecontrary, resulted in a clear division of tasksin the system, which simplifies theorganisation and has a positive effect oncosts.

The Ordinance on the return, the taking backand the disposal of electrical and electronicappliances, ORDEA, which has been in place inSwitzerland since 1 July 1998, provides thelegal basis for an obligation of consumers toreturn equipment and the obligation of thetrade companies and manufacturers to takeback and dispose of equipment. SWICO willfurther develop and supplement its concept inline with the future requirements of ORDEAand incorporate the wealth of experiencegained during the past eight years.The nextstep has already been introduced – theinclusion of consumer electronics equipmentin the disposal solution as per 1 January 2002 .

Annexe 1 55

Annexe 2:Case study 2:

Waste management inMetropolitan Cape Town.

A case study – the challengesfacing a developing city (16)

Cape Town is a developing city with all thesymptoms of a city in transition. New solidwaste strategies are needed which aim atinvolving all citizens and achieving a sustainablesystem.The status quo with regard to solidwaste management in Cape Town is discussed inthis paper, highlighting the problems and possiblesolutions that can be incorporated into policyand strategies. In conclusion, the paperpostulates that it is possible to achieve the goalfor Cape Town of being a world class yetAfrican city, while caring for the needs of allpeople, and without compromising theenvironment.This depends on whether the rightdecisions are made and solutions to thechallenges that face the city are adopted in theshort term. Public involvement, along witheducation and information processes, are seenas the keys to success of the solid waste system.

IntroductionCape Town is a metropolitan city of somethree million people, situated on the southernmost tip of Africa.The city is located in an areaof extraordinary beauty and variety – a richfloral kingdom, rugged mountain ranges, forestsand endless coastlines. In stark contrast, a largepercentage of the population is poor, withmany living below the breadline who cannotafford even rudimentary services. Mere survivaland basic housing issues, which are taken forgranted in most first world cities, are issues thatneed to be addressed in Cape Town.

The city can be regarded as a developingAfrican city; it exhibits many of the symptomsassociated with cities in transition.Thechallenges facing Cape Town include social,

financial and environmental.The demands aregrowing whereas resources are somewhatstatic. In addition, the local government is in aprocess of transition as the local authoritiesand the Cape Metropolitan Council, in theMetropolitan Area, are presently beingtransformed into a single modern unicitycouncil, the new City of Cape Town. Alongwith this change comes a new service deliverystrategy which was developed to remove pastinequalities in service levels.

It is difficult to improve the waste managementsystem without sufficient financial resources.But the funds available are used for seeminglymore pressing issues, such as housing, health,fighting crime etc.

‘Sustainable cities’ is a buzz-word widely usedthese days and achieving sustainability andharmony with the environment is a majorchallenge for new Cape Town. Sustainabilitycannot be achieved in isolation, it must includewaste issues and environmental aspects as wellas consider the social makeup of the city.Waste strategists, scientists and managers haveto ensure that the needs of the city and itsinhabitants are addressed withoutcompromising the environment.

Legislation and policySection 24 of South Africa’s Bill of Rights(Constitution of the Republic of South Africa –Act 108 of 1996) states that everyone has theright to an environment that is not harmful totheir health and well-being. Furthermore,everyone has the right to have theenvironment protected, for the benefit ofpresent and future generations.This is achievedthrough reasonable legislative measures that (i)prevent pollution and ecological degradation,(ii) promote conservation and (iii) secureecologically sustainable development and theuse of natural resources while promotingjustifiable economic and social development.The Act allows citizens to take legal actionagainst the local government to ensure theserights.

(16)P. H. Novella, City of CapeTown,Waste ManagementDepartment, PO Box 16548,Vlaeberg 8018, Cape Town,South Africa

56 Annexe 2

Legislation and policy to uphold this right havealready been implemented or are currently inthe process of preparation or promulgation.These are: the White Paper on IntegratedPollution and Waste Management – GazetteNo. 20978 (DEAT, 1999), the NationalEnvironmental Management Act (Act 107 of1998) and the National Waste ManagementStrategy (NWMS) (DEAT, 1999).Thislegislation and the resulting actions once it isfully implemented will make a holistic,integrated and sustainable approach to wastemanagement mandatory in South Africa.

Waste disposal was specifically neglected inthe past; landfills were mostly poorly sited,unengineered and badly managed.TheEnvironment Conservation Act (Act 73 of1989) (DEAT, 1999) introduced newrequirements for landfills. 11 years after thepromulgation of the act, some landfills haveimproved, but a number have not. A largenumber of landfills remain unlicensed. In orderto implement the provisions of the Act, aseries of guideline documents (the MinimumRequirements)that enable compliance with theAct, were published in 1994 and revised in1998 (DWAF, 1998).The minimumrequirements have become importantreference documents for waste disposal inSouth Africa.These documents were also usedto form the basis for waste disposal policy inother countries.

Problems in the field of wastemanagementThe Unicity of Cape Town has recently beenformed out of seven autonomous Councilseach with its own administration, level ofservice and tariffs for its residents.Theproblems in the field of waste managementare immense. Fourie (2000) reports that thereis fragmentation and duplication of serviceswhich results in wastage and places a burdenon financial resources.The problems areexacerbated by the fact of ever increasingdebtors’ books which resulted from unpaidaccounts.These arrears are increasing at an

alarming rate as a culture of non paymentprevails in certain communities within the city.The resulting lack of funds causesinfrastructural problems as well as operationaland capital budget cutbacks. In addition to thepresence of many bureaucratic procedures,there is also a lack of performancemanagement and incentives for staff.

There are pockets of excellence in theprovision of services including the handling ofsolid waste.These are overshadowed by areaswhich are littered and which have become thedumping ground for unscrupulous illegaldumpers.These persons dump their waste atthe roadsides or in any open space in thedead of night or even in broad day light,thereby causing health problems and othermajor environmental problems.

In every community there are people whohave little concern for the state of theenvironment.This is due to ignorance or socialhardship.There is little formal environmentaleducation on a significant scale for theresidents of Cape Town. Numerous clean-upprogrammes have been run in the past, butthey have had only limited success in keepingCape Town clean.

The importance of waste disposal facilities hasbeen neglected in the past and the city isfacing a shortage of suitable landfill space forboth general and hazardous waste. But there isstill an increase in hazardous waste importsinto the Cape Town area from other cities inSouth Africa that are worse off with regard tohazardous waste facilities. An intensive capitalinvestment programme was introduced toaddress these problems; it aims at closingunsuitable sites, upgrading suitably positionedsites and modernising facilities which havebecome run-down. Legislation has beendrafted to control the flow of waste into sitesin Cape Town from outside the metropolitanarea.

Annexe 2 57

The problems associated with illegal dumpingand the task of getting all waste into theformal waste stream and upgrading thecollection, transfer and disposal facilitiescoupled with the lack of supporting legislationhave resulted in a slow progress towards thegoals of waste reduction, minimisation andrecycling.The waste stream is mixed and verylittle pre-sorting takes place on a formal level.

Structural reorganisation Following the international trend, water,electricity and solid waste management arereorganised into outcome focused, ring fencedbusiness units with an emphasis on the corebusiness of each unit.This will result in efficient,cost-effective services for all residents, whichare not harnessed by unnecessary bureaucracy.In the initial study, the trading arm of solidwaste, which comprises waste transfer anddisposal, has been identified as an area ofprogress, which could result in improvedinternal mechanisms or corporatisation into,for example, a utility company.This part of theservice is tariff funded and has clearly definedcustomers from both within as well as outsidethe council.

Waste collection is receiving attention and willbe subject to similar studies at a later stage. Ifthe decision-makers favour utility companies,as has been the case in Johannesburg, thesecompanies will be registered with the councilas the sole share holder.The adoption of clearlines of responsibility, accountability, control ofresources linked to performance managementand possible incentive schemes will surelyresult in greater operational and economicefficiency. Bad debts might still remain aproblem, however, we hope that the improvedlevels of service as well as increased visibilityand responsiveness to the needs of allcustomers will result in a culture of paymentfor services over time.

The issue of cleaning the city has beendiscussed in many debates. It has beenproposed that the owners of the components

that make up the city must take responsibilityfor keeping that area clean and ensuring astrategy that keeps it clean. In this way, thecleaning of the street-scape is identified as aroads function, the cleaning of beaches iswithin the responsibility of beach amenitiesetc. In this way, the specialised solid wastesystems of waste collection, transfer anddisposal can be customer-focused in theirbusiness and do not have to perform the taskof cleaning up everyone else’s mess. Alongwith this an intensive educational drive willensure that all citizens are aware ofenvironmental protection as well as of theeffects of littering, illegal dumping and otherbad waste management practices.

The involvement of communities will beencouraged through policies that assist in theemployment of SMMEs (small, micro andmedium enterprises). In addition, policies areinvestigated that focus on waste managementas a vehicle for job creation. Entrepreneurialcommunity-based collection systems havealready been successfully implemented in CapeTown, where previously unemployed peopleare now small business owners and employers.These community waste management systemsall have a place in the integrated wastemanagement plan for Cape Town.

Sustainable and integrated wastemanagementThe development of sustainable environmentalplans such as IMEP (integrated metropolitanenvironmental programme) is under waywhich include integrated waste plans for CapeTown.These plans cannot be developed andimplemented overnight. In addition, continualreview and assessment are necessary to keepthe plans up to date and make sure that theyrespond to the needs of a rapidly changingcity.

It is important to understand the termssustainability and integrated in the context ofwaste management.These terms meandifferent things depending on the context. In

58 Annexe 2

this paper, they are defined as follows:

• sustainability: ‘solving today’s problems in aresponsible and environment-friendlymanner without prejudicing the ability offuture generations to exist or solve theirown problems’,

• integrated waste management: ‘theconsideration of all components whichmake up the waste hierarchy and theselection of appropriate components inconsideration with each other in a cradle-to-grave approach’.

The first step to sustainability can be achievedby complying with all legislation in the field ofenvironmental protection. In addition, specificimpacts are analysed and mitigatory actionsare taken to minimise those impacts. It mustbe clear, however, that the waste managementapproach alone cannot be consideredsufficient to achieve sustainability.

Just as waste management systems must havean integrated approach, so too, must wastemanagement be integrated into other servicesthat have an impact on the environment. Allplanning and operational activities must beconsidered holistically. A city developmentstrategy (CDS) for the city as a whole and acouncil-specific integrated development plan(IDP) are being developed for Cape Town tofacilitate overall integration.

In order to be sustainable, waste managementmust consider the waste stream in a holisticcradle-to-grave manner in order to optimisethe use of natural resources and reduceenvironmental impacts. An integratedapproach, which combines several techniquessuch as waste reduction, reuse, recycling,composting, treatment and disposal must beconsidered. Figure 7 shows the widelyaccepted desirability hierarchy in integratedwaste management, which is used to guidelinewaste management planning and policydevelopment to an increasing extent.

The decision on which processes to use mustbe based on an appraisal of all costs andbenefits as well as of the impacts on theenvironment. Aumonier and Coleman (1997)point out that LCA is an appropriatetechnique for examining waste managementscenarios.

The overall emphasis of the system used mustbe on reducing waste quantities, therebyprotecting natural resources and hencereducing the mass requiring disposal.The mixof processes must be selected with a goal inmind. Figure 8 (page 60) shows a typical wastemanagement system with a number ofoptions. Once the desired mix of processeshas been selected, an environmentalmanagement system (EMS) which embracesISO 14001 needs to be developed and put inplace to ensure that environmental objectivesare met on an permanent basis in eachprocess.

Annexe 2 59

Desirability

Reduction

Reuse

Recycling

Composting

Figure 7: Desirability hierarchy in integrated waste management

In terms of the NWMS, all local authoritieswill have to develop Integrated WasteManagement Plans for waste (DEAT, 1999). Ina move towards an integrated approach towaste management, the former CapeMetropolitan Council finalised a strategy withregard to waste generation, reduction,transfer and disposal for the Cape Town area.In this plan (CMC, 1999), in which wastemanagement objectives are set, emphasis isplaced on a phased approach to theimplementation of more sustainableprocesses in addition to solving immediateproblems with high priority followed by acontinual improvement through review andassessment.

The selected disposal method is sanitarylandfill, which must in all respects comply withthe Minimum Requirements. A waste streamassessment and audit was carried out for thefirst time.Waste and transfer methods wereassessed and landfill airspace and capacity fordisposal were determined as well as theprojected needs for the next 30 years.Wastegeneration statistics are now available for thefirst time. It is essential, however, that thisinformation is transferred into a dynamic

waste information system that can be kept upto date to enable proper planning andcontinual review.

It has been estimated that, on average, eachresident of the Cape generates approximately1kg of waste per day that requires landfilldisposal. Existing recycling and compostingprogrammes were evaluated. Some 6% ofdomestic waste is recycled. Judging from thewaste that goes to landfills, it is estimated thatdomestic waste recycling could be increasedto about 22%. As a first step, sorting of mixedwaste is investigated, but long-term plans toencourage and phase in source separation willbe put in place. Education and publicawareness are considered as criticalcomponents in the success of the plan.

Waste management is generally considered tocomprise two facets viz. community/logistics aswell as scientific/engineering. In developingcountries, these two facets are poles apart andrequire different approaches to achievesustainability.The cleansing and waste collectionservices may be regarded as communityservices requiring a logistics approach while theplanning and management of waste transfer

60 Annexe 2

Wastestorage

Recycling/reuse

Transferstation

Materialsrecoveryfacility

Compostmaking

Sourceseparation

CollectionDisposal

siteWaste

generation

Figure 8:Typical elements of a waste management system

and disposal require a scientific/engineeringapproach. In order to achieve sustainability, weneed an approach that takes these two facetsinto account. If they are considered separately,we still need an integrated approach to bringsthe two together.

In Cape Town, cleansing (litter removal andstreet sweeping) and waste collection are themost costly components of the wastemanagement systems.These will be replacedby optimised, appropriate and cost effectivesystems. Communities will be encouraged totake responsibility for their waste; they will beconsulted in the preparation of a strategy forcleaning their area. In addition, citizens will bemade aware of and continually reminded ofthe aims and objectives of the waste strategyimplemented in their area.

Information on waste types and quantities willbe made available.The implementation of anystrategy can only be successful with the activeparticipation and support of the communities.The public must be involved in the entireprocess; people must be included early on inthe process so that they understand theeffects and costs of management of the wastesthat they produce.

One of the common mistakes that were madein the past was the belief that there is onesolution.This is not the case. It is nowaccepted that there will be a number ofdifferent strategies with varying action plansand varying costs for different sectors of thesame city. For this purpose, appropriate statusquo analyses are carried out and achievable,acceptable and affordable strategies aredeveloped along with action plans.

The base is a minimum service level for all.From this basis, varying service levels will beselected with resulting differing costs.Thesedepend on the type and quantity of wasteproduced as well as on the specific needs anddemands of each community.There arepresently three levels of collection service:

rudimentary service, black bags service, and acontainerised system.

Illegal dumping in Cape Town must be stoppedas soon as possible. An intensive strategy waslaunched to clean the city, but also to educateand inform the people.This is seen as thecorner-stone of any successful strategy; bylawsare redrafted to improve the enforcement ofthe laws.The causes of the underlyingproblems are established and solutionsdeveloped; major cleanups without sustainableresults are discouraged.The first and foremosttask is to make all waste enter into the wastestream. Communities will be encouraged totake responsibility through proper campaignsthat promote a clean and sustainable city.

Recycling and compostingWaste reduction, recycling and compostingform major components of a sustainable wastemanagement system. Along with improvedstandards and increasing disposal andtransport costs, waste reduction is alsobecoming more financially attractive.Thisconcept includes more than just separatingpost-consumer materials; it also includes reuse,re-processing and re-manufacturing.Thecomplete loop must be considered to be ableto assess long-term viability and sustainability.

Recycling is also a vehicle of job creation, anda number of operations are being looked at todetermine which of them are suitable for thesorting of waste to recover reusable productsand raw materials. It is reported that theinformal sector in Egypt was employed in thecleaning, waste collection and recycling sectors,thereby handling about one third of Cairo’swaste (Iskandar Kamel, 1999).

It is important that proper planning is carriedout prior to implementing a programme.Markets need to be assessed and thedynamics understood. Realistic goals must beset and the public must be involved. Decision-makers must be made aware of the total costsof the loop.The elements that should be

Annexe 2 61

included are, among others, source separation,curbside collection, materials recovery facilitiesand mixed waste processing.There are manycombinations of these elements to beconsidered.

Drop-off points in Cape Town currently formthe major part of existing recycling initiatives.Recycling schemes in schools and otherinstitutions all provide a necessary service andearn an income in the process.There are manysuccess stories in school recycling schemes. Insome cases, bottle and paper banks situated inconvenient spots also provide other solutions.These recycling centres are, however, often-poorly sited and cause social nuisances.

These sites within urban areas are currently inthe spotlight as they reportedly encouragedinformal salvagers to break open bags or tipout the contents in a quest to find high valuewaste. Managing these sites presents achallenge. Public pressure forces the city toconsider closure of certain drop-off sitesbecause of the social problems they cause.Sites must not be neglected; instead, theyshould be integrated into municipalprogrammes with appropriate control.Litterbins must be available at each site.

Composting is an internationally recognisedmethod of waste reduction (EPA 1989).Organic material in household waste in theform of green and kitchen waste is a resourcethat should be returned to the environment toincrease soil integrity and productivity.Composting is a natural way to turn wasteinto a resource in a controlled way before it isreturned to the environment.

The scale of composting systems can varyfrom households with a compost heap in thebackyard to small areas at drop-off facilities tolarge plant installations. In Cape Town, thereare three large municipal composting facilities,all of which have been in operation for sometwo decades.These plants have one thing incommon – they were not financially viable and

required large subsidies. However, asacceptable landfills are often scarce near areaswhere waste is generated and transfer stationsare implemented to move the waste furtherafield, a new move is evaluated towardscomposting as a cost-effective alternative.Private sector involvement in these systems iswelcome. In this way, a significant amount oforganic wastes can be diverted away fromvaluable landfill airspace.

The method of reducing waste going to landfillby way of introducing a Web-based industrialwaste exchange (IWE) system for Cape Town(Dittke and Novella, 2000) is a unique solutionto the problem of reduced landfill space(http://www.cmc.gov.za/iwe).While such anapproach is new to South Africa, similarsystems have been used successfullyelsewhere, for example, in the United Statesand in Australia, to promote the reuse ofwaste materials.The system has its rootssomewhere between recycling and reuse withattractive financial rewards for waste providers(in terms of reduced waste disposal costs andthe possible sale of waste materials) as well asfor waste users (replacement of expensivevirgin material).The IWE system can form anintegral part of Cape Towns integrated wastesystem and promote sustainability.

Disposal by landfillBoth the NWMS and the study of anintegrated strategy for the Cape Town haverecognised landfill disposal as an appropriateand a necessary component of wastemanagement in South Africa. Landfills must beproperly sited, well engineered, and efficientlyoperated, and the general effects of operationsand the impact on the environment must bemonitored.Thus, landfills remain an importantcomponent of Cape Town’s integrated wastemanagement plan.

Since landfills are increasingly situated inremote areas transfer stations are established.Some of them are rail based, and all of themare ideally located in strategic positions in

62 Annexe 2

order to ensure long-term economic viabilityfor the entire system.

Selected landfills are upgraded, while others areclosed. Airspace is used up at a rate of some1,5 million m3 per annum.This means thatthere is still space available for approximatelyeight years.This time is increased to about 13 years by expanding selected sites. At thesame time, regional studies determine whetherit is possible to increase the capacity of certainsites to 30 years.

According to Novella (2000), sustainablelandfills can be defined as landfills where airspace, processes, use of products and residuesare at an optimum with minimal negativeeffects on the environment. An EMS is appliedto landfill operations in Cape Town to achieveISO 14001 compliance. Reyneri et al, (1999)and Bertolini et al, (1999) give details usefulfor the development of EMSs of landfill sites. Inthis way, management methods andprocedures followed for disposal operationswill be improved.This will lead to moreefficient control and improved environmentalperformance and the prevention or reductionof risks. Risk analysis can be used tosuccessfully control health, hygiene, safety,security and environmental effects at landfillsites (Reyneri and Belfiore, 1999).

ConclusionsThis paper attempted to shed light on someof the complicated issues related to solidwaste management in Cape Town. Improvedand more sustainable waste managementsystems can be achieved.The followingconclusions result from the above discussion. Itmust be noted, however, that this is anevolving dynamic subject; the conclusions mustbe seen in this light.

• The transformation of the fragmented solidwaste management services into optimisedcustomer focused business units isregarded as the most effective way tomanage waste in Cape Town.

• Special attention needs to be given toeducation and information programmes,which are seen as the corner-stones ofsustainable solutions.

• Sustainability can be achieved.Theframework for a national system iscurrently in place. Local plans and policiesfor Cape Town are in the process of beingput together and implemented.

• Sustainability must be aimed at byimplementing integrated waste managementsystems, which use a mix of alternativesolutions that complement each other. Acradle-to-grave approach is needed.

• Waste managers have the responsibility ofensuring a cradle-to-grave approach wherecomplementing components are selectedin an integrated manner. Local plans mustbe set with achievable goals. Reviewprocesses must be put in place to measurethe effectiveness of the plans. Publicparticipation is seen as important and willgo hand in hand with education andinformation programmes.

• IWE system can be part of Cape Town’sintegrated waste management system,thereby promoting sustainability.

• Landfills are seen as part of an integratedapproach.They must be designed,engineered, operated and monitored in away that ensures environmentalcompliance and a sustainable approach.

• Environmental management systems thatcomply with ISO 14001 must be put inplace.Their actual performance must bemonitored.These goals cannot be achievedby waste management measures alone butas part of an overall system.

• Waste reduction, recycling and compostingmust be encouraged and increased as theamount of waste going to landfill is reduced.

Annexe 2 63

Acknowledgement anddisclaimerThe presentation of this paper would not havebeen possible without the co-operation of theCity of Cape Town.The views expressed in thepaper are those of the author alone.

ReferencesAumonier S and Coleman T (1997). Life cycleassessment for waste management planning.Proc. Sardinia

97, 6th International Waste Management andLandfill Symposium. S. Margherita di Pula, Italy.October

Bertolini E, Meglioli E, Canovi L, Bonvicini V andBertolotti L (1999). Implementation of anenvironmental management system conformed tothe ISO 140001 regulation. Proc. Sardinia 1999,7th International Waste Management andLandfill Symposium. S. Margherita di Pula, Italy.October

CMC (1999). Towards an Integrated Approach toWaste Management in the Cape MetropolitanArea. Cape Metropolitan Council P O BOX16548,Vlaeberg 8018. South Africa.

DEAT (1999). Environment Conservation Act(1989), Integrated Pollution and WasteManagement./National Waste ManagementStrategy. Department of Environmental Affairsand Tourism, Private Bag X447, Pretoria 0001,South Africa

Dittke SY and Novella PH (2000). Industrialwaste exchange as a powerful tool for wastereduction. Proc.Wastecon 2000 Biennialconference of the Institute of WasteManagement (SA). Somerset West, CapeTown, South Africa. September

DWAF (1998).Waste Management Series.Minimum Requirements for Waste Disposal.Department of Water Affairs and Forestry,Private Bag X313 Pretoria 0001, South Africa

EPA (1989). Decision-Makers Guide to SolidWaste Management. United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency. EPA/530-SW-89-072

Fourie F (2000). From Tygerberg MetropolitanLocal Council Cleansing to Cape MetropolitanArea Unicity waste utility company: a vision.Proc.Wastecon 2000. Biennial conference ofthe Institute of Waste Management (SA).Somerset West, Cape Town, South Africa.September

Iskandar Kamel L (1999). MSW Management:Local Knowledge and National Development Acase study from Egypt. Proc. Sardinia’99. 7thInternational Waste Management and Landfillsymposium. S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy.October.

Novella PH (1999). Waste management inSouth Africa: Can sustainability be achieved?Proc. Sardinia’99, 7th International Landfill andwaste management symposium. S. Margheritadi Pula, Sardinia, Italy. October

Reyneri G and Belfiore F (1999). Use of riskanalysis in the implementation of an integratedmanagement system at landfills. Proc. Sardinia99, 7th International Waste Management andLandfill Symposium. S. Margherita di Pula, Italy.October

Reyneri G, Kociolek P and Belfiore F (1999).Implementation of an environmentalmanagement system (ISO 14001 and EMAS) atlandfills. Proc. Sardinia 99, 7th InternationalWaste Management and Landfill Symposium. S.Margherita di Pula, Italy. October.

64 Annexe 2

Annexe 3:Case study 3:

Management of MunicipalSolid Wastes in China(17)

General introductionWhen China implemented the policy ofreform and opened to the world, theurbanisation progress sped up, the amount ofcities and towns and their urban populationincreased rapidly.There were more than 200cities with a total population of 200 million inthe early 1980s; today, there are 668 cities and16,500 cities and towns with a totalpopulation of nearly 400 million.

The increase in residents of cities and townscertainly leads to more municipal solid wastes.Since a considerable number of urbanresidents still use crude coal as energy source,the municipal refuse is not only large inquantity, but also contains large amounts ofcoal ash and cinder (more than 50%).Thiscauses great difficulties in the treatment of therefuse: the fertiliser efficiency of refusecompost with large amounts of coal ash andcinder is not high; the amount of refuse forlandfill treatment is large; the mixed plastics inrefuse affect the compactness of landfills; andsuch refuse is unsuited for incinerationbecause its calorific value is low.

Since the national financial resources arelimited and the incomes of residents arerelatively low, there are no sufficient financialresources to fund the construction of refusetreatment facilities.These are conditions thatcommonly occur in cities all over the country.

Therefore, the current management ofmunicipal solid wastes is limited to road sweepand refuse transport.The sound disposal rateof municipal solid wastes is far behind thegrowth rate of generated waste, which causesserious environmental problems.

Increasing quantities of municipal solid wasteAs a result of the rapid population growth incities and towns and the continuousimprovement of living conditions, both theoverall quantities and the per capita quantitiesof municipal solid wastes increase. Before the1980s, per capita refuse generation per daywas 1kg; the total amount of refuse generatedin the whole country was about 70 milliontonnes. In recent years, per capita refusegeneration has increased to 1.3kg to 1.5kg, andthe total amount of refuse is appr. 200 milliontonnes.This is an increase by more than twotimes since the early-1980s.

Serious refuse problems forced some cities toincrease their investments in environmentalsanitation work. 11 large cities, includingBeijing,Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou,invested a total of 5.757 billion yuan RMB, asum that is 5.345 times higher that the suminvested in 1986.The increase in investmentwas highest in Guangzhou: 9.57 times, followedby Wuhan 6.97 times, Shanghai 6.01 times, andBeijing 5.8 times. Other cities also increasedtheir investments in varying degrees, thusincreasing the capacity of the road sweep andrefuse transport systems.

Furthermore, some cities built several refusetreatment facilities in succession. In 1986, therewas a total of 23 refuse and faeces treatmentfacilities, with a treatment rate of 0.07%. In1995, there were more than 900 treatmentfacilities, with a treatment rate of 43.7%.Themain treatment methods used are simplelandfilling and high temperature composting.The quantity of landfill refuses accounts for70%.The quantity of compost accounts for20%. Only Shenzhen has refuse incinerationfacilities with a day treatment capacity of 300 tonnes. Beijing, Shanghai and Zhuhai etc.are planning to build refuse incinerationfacilities.

(17)Kangsheng Zhang,executive director, UNEP-Infoterra China National FocalPoint

Annexe 3 65

Problems in the management of municipalsolid wastesIn 1992, the sound treatment rate of municipalsolid wastes and faeces in the cities of Chinawas only 28.3%. In urban areas, per capitaannual refuse generation was 440kg, with anannual growth rate of 8% to 10%. Largeamounts of municipal solid wastes are simplytransported to the periphery of urban areasfor open dumping. Municipal solid wastesaround more than 200 cities greatly damagethe urban environment, worsen livingconditions and hinder the development ofurban construction.

Since the amounts of municipal solid wastesare so large and the proportion of soundcontrol is so low, the majority of cities arepuzzled by the problem of what to do withthe refuse. By 1997, the refuse transportcapacity of the national environmentalsanitation system was 100 million tonnes, whilethe amount of refuse discharged by urbanresidents was 200 million tonnes.

The refuse that could not be transported wasdetained in uncontrolled sites.This is a sourceof heavy pollution. Even if the refuse istransported to refuse sites, it is generally justpiled up in the open. Large amount of stackedrefuse tend to ferment and generate hightemperatures and methane, which oftencauses explosive accidents. Furthermore, thereare serious environmental problems, such asstink to high heaven, rampant mosquito and flypopulations, or damage caused by pathogenicbacteria and viruses.

Due to the limited financial input, theprovisions against leakage at landfill sites aregenerally inadequate, which allows refusepollution to leak from the ground into theunderground; the leakage seriously pollutes thesurrounding underground waters.

Another environmental problem caused bymunicipal solid wastes is that caused by thewide use of disposable plastic dinner sets and

packing bags.These certainly bring greatconvenience to consumers, but the arbitrarilyabandoned plastic wastes cause serious ‘whitepollution’. Since there is a lack of managementwork, this does not only damage theappearance of cities and landscapes and affectair and water qualities, but also causesdifficulties to treatment. As these plastic wastescan not be reduced by microbial activity, theyalso affect the compactness of landfills. Inaddition, large amounts of polyvinyl chloridewaste plastics have a potentially high level ofleach toxicity, so they are not suitable forlandfilling.

Although waste plastics have a high calorificvalue, they can not be simply incineratedbecause incinerating polyvinyl chloride plasticsat temperatures below 1,200°C will generatea very toxic matter : dioxin.The treatment ofsuch incineration fumes will incur highinvestments; such funds are not available to thegeneral incinerator plants of the country.Therefore, the pollution caused by wasteplastics is a prominent difficulty among thecurrent refuse problems.

Measures taken in the field of solidwaste managementThe national principles for preventing andcontrolling solid waste pollution are thereduction of solid waste generation, theappropriate utilisation of solid wasteswherever possible, and the sound disposal ofsolid wastes.The state encourages andsupports clean production in order to reducesolid waste generation; it encourages andsupports the comprehensive utilisation ofresources, the adequate and appropriaterecovering of solid wastes; and it adoptseconomic and technical policies and measuresthat favour the comprehensive utilisation ofsolid wastes.

In response to the nationwide conditions, thestate has formulated a short-term technicalpolicy to control solid wastes pollution:minimisation, recycling and decontamination.

66 Annexe 3

Decontamination will be the main point ofsolid waste pollution control for a relativelylong-term. Later, the focus will be shifted fromdecontamination to recycling. Recycling is animportant factor in the decontamination andminimisation of municipal solid waste.

Strengthening the legal system The state has issued a set of relevant laws andregulations in order to effectively prevent andcontrol solid waste pollution, such as theAtmospheric Pollution Prevention and ControlLaw of the People’s Republic of China;

• the Water Pollution Prevention andControl Law of the People’s Republic ofChina;

• the Provisions on Preventing ElectricalInstallation Containing PCBs and its Wastes;

• the Certain Provisions on Preventing andControlling Environmental Pollution inChromic Compound Production;

• the Management Methods for Preventingand Controlling Environmental Pollution ofTailings;

• the Notice on Strictly ControllingTransform of Hazardous Wastes fromabroad to Our Country;

• the Control Standards for Agricultural Useof Refuse;

• the Pollution Control Standards for 11Pollutant Compounds of Industrial SolidWastes, etc.

The Solid Waste Pollution Control Law of thePeople’s Republic of China was issued on 30 October 1995.The law puts forwarddirective principles for the comprehensiveprevention and control of solid waste pollution.This marks the end of a long period withoutlaws and regulations for the prevention andcontrol of solid waste pollution and withoutsupervisory management.Thus, the preventionand control of solid waste pollution in thecountry enters into a new stage.

Detailed rules and regulations for theminimisation, recycling and decontamination of

solid wastes should be stimulated on the basisof the act for solid waste pollution control.Special rules for hazardous wastes should bedrawn up as soon as possible.The wholeprocess management of production, collection,storage, treatment, disposal or utilisationshould be implemented as soon as possible.

Implementing the policy of solid wasteminimisationThe basic task of solid waste minimisation is touse appropriate tools to reduce the quantityand volume of solid wastes. It should beaccomplished in two respects: treatment andutilisation of solid wastes and reduction ofsolid waste generation. In addition, a technicalpolicy and encouraging measures for cleanproduction should be stimulated. Actionguidelines for waste minimisation of thosemain industries (such as metallurgical industry,chemical industry, light industry, etc.) thatgenerate hazardous wastes should be laiddown and implemented.

There are other measures to be implemented,as well.These are a reform of traditionalproduction modes, the improvement ofprocess and equipment, the use of clean rawmaterials and energy, and shifting the focusfrom ‘end-of-pipe’ management to ‘source’control.The state has set up a Centre forClean Production, and it has selectivelycompiled the first set of effective techniques ofclean production in electrical, chemical,mechanical, light, textile, building material,metallurgical and nonferrous metal industriesfor allocation and dissemination.

Management measures and actions In the field of municipal solid wastemanagement, the following measures andactions should be taken:

• Formulate and implement laws andregulations governing municipal solidwastes, improve the system of managingurban refuse with all due haste andgradually introduce a system of fees for the

Annexe 3 67

treatment of refuse. Cities that attracttourists should establish a system for thesegregated collection and safe disposal ofrefuse in the near future, while other citieswill achieve this goal more gradually.Individuals and institutions are encouragedto create professional service companiesfor municipal solid waste collection,transportation and safe disposal.

• Take measures to minimise the generationof municipal refuse, such as increasing thesupply of coal gas and natural gas anddeveloping district central heating systemsto reduce solid residues from direct coalcombustion. Measures will also includeproviding clean vegetables to urbanresidents in developing decomposableplastic packaging, gradually implementingthe use of garbage bags and segregateddisposal, and encouraging waste recycling.

• Promote the safe disposal and recycling ofurban refuse in accordance with localconditions.The primary options for the safedisposal and recycling of municipal solidwastes are sanitary landfill and composting,although some cities might employincineration. By means of high-temperaturecomposting, domestic refuse is now beingprocessed into organic fertiliser and usedlocally. Monitoring of the rural environmentmust be improved. From the year 2000 on,biogas generated in sanitary landfills will berecovered and closed composting piles willbe afforested;

• Establish appropriate economic policies toencourage the development ofcomprehensive technologies for utilisingmunicipal solid wastes, for example inbrick-making and cement-making.

• Improve the infrastructure for sanitation by,for example, improving public lavatories,municipal solid waste transfer sites, faecesdisposal sites, parking for sanitation vehiclesand sanitation works yards.These kinds of

improvements to the infrastructure are tobe integrated into the design, constructionand operational planning processes formunicipal and industrial development.

• Improve technical engineering studies onmunicipal refuse collection and treatment.Introduce and assimilate advancedtechnologies from other countries.Emphasise the development ofenvironmentally sound technologies andequipment for use in the reclamation,treatment and utilisation of municipal solidwastes.

• Establish demonstration projects as modelsfor municipal refuse treatment and disposal.These should demonstrate sanitary landfills,high temperature composting, incinerationand comprehensive recycling. Implementwell-designed citywide programmes formunicipal refuse collection and transport.

Comprehensive utilisation of solid wastesComprehensive utilisation is the most effectiveapproach for recycling and decontamination ofsolid wastes. It is of a great significance in theprevention and control of solid waste pollutionand in the protection and improvement of theenvironment. Practical experience has shownthat comprehensive utilisation of solid wastesis an important component in theimplementation of sustainable developmentstrategies.

Our regulations will: implement a preferentialpolicy for the production and construction ofcomprehensive utilisation of resources, such asremitting taxation, financial support,preferential credit, etc; implement the principleof ‘who invests will benefit’ to the enterprisesemploying comprehensive utilisation. Benefitsfrom comprehensive utilisation projectsconstructed with funds raised by theenterprises themselves belong to theenterprises.The responsible departments andadministration departments should supportthem in this context.They should neither levy

68 Annexe 3

Annexe 3 69

nor apportion charges, nor should theyarbitrarily allocate products. One of the maincheck-up targets for mine enterprises will bethe raising of the total recovery rate ofmineral resources.

Carrying out comprehensive utilisationresources and scientific and technical researchshould be encouraged, as well. Scientific andtechnical markets for comprehensive utilisationshould be organised.Technical transferincluding payments should be practised.Thestate should set up comprehensive utilisationrewards in order to encourage the units andindividuals that make contributions to thedevelopment of comprehensive utilisation.

70 References

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72 Waste Management

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communications technology• iron and steel

• oil and gas• railways• refrigeration• road transport• tourism• waste management• water management

• accounting• advertising• aluminium• automotive• aviation• chemicals• coal• construction

UNEP contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development

The mission of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is to provide leadership andencourage partnerships in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations andpeoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. The UNEPDivision of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) contributes to the UNEP mission byencouraging decision-makers in government, business, and industry develop and adopt policies, strategiesand practices that are cleaner and safer, make efficient use of natural resources, ensure adequatemanagement of chemicals, incorporate environmental costs, and reduce pollution and risks for humansand the environment.

This report is part of a series facilitated by UNEP DTIE as a contribution to the World Summit onSustainable Development. UNEP DTIE provided a report outline based on Agenda 21 to interestedindustrial sectors and co-ordinated a consultation process with relevant stakeholders. In turn,participating industry sectors committed themselves to producing an honest account of performanceagainst sustainability goals.

The full set of reports is available from UNEP DTIE’s web site (http://www.uneptie.org/wssd/), whichgives further details on the process and the organisations that made it possible.The following is a list ofrelated outputs from this process, all of which are available from UNEP both in electronic version andhardcopy:

- industry sectoral reports, including

- a compilation of executive summaries of the industry sectoral reports above;- an overview report by UNEP DTIE;- a CD-ROM including all of the above documents.

UNEP DTIE is also contributing the following additional products:- a joint WBCSD/WRI/UNEP publication entitled Tomorrow’s Markets: Global Trends and Their

Implications for Business, presenting the imperative for sustainable business practices;- a joint WB/UNEP report on innovative finance for sustainability, which highlights new and effective

financial mechanisms to address pressing environmental, social and developmental issues;- two extraordinary issues of UNEP DTIE’s quarterly Industry and Environment review, addressing key

regional industry issues and the broader sustainable development agenda.

More generally, UNEP will be contributing to the World Summit on Sustainable Development withvarious other products, including:- the Global Environmental Outlook 3 (GEO 3), UNEP’s third state of the environment assessment

report;- a special issue of UNEP’s Our Planet magazine for World Environment Day, with a focus on the

International Year of Mountains;- the UNEP photobook Focus on Your World, with the best images from the Third International

Photographic Competition on the Environment.

For further information contact:

International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)Overgaden Oven Vandet 48 EDK-1415 CopenhagenDenmarkTel: +45 32 96 15 88Fax: +45 32 96 15 84E-mail: iswa@inet.uni2.dkWeb site: http://www.iswa.org

United Nations Environment ProgrammeDivision of Technology, Industry and Economics39-43 Quai André Citroën75739 Paris Cedex 15FranceTel: +33 1 44 37 14 50Fax: +33 1 44 37 14 74E-mail: wssd@unep.frWeb site: http://www.uneptie.org/wssd/

Sustainability profile of the Waste Management industry

• Achievements- Improved environmental and technical performance.- Awareness among decision-makers and consumers.

• Unfinished business- Integrated research on effects of waste management on soil, air, water and climate.- Waste management in developing countries.

• Future challenges and possible commitments- Decouple the link of economic growth and waste generation.- Improve communication, education and training.