Waste – The Global Challenge

Global waste production is predicted by some to double over the next twenty years. Much of this will be due to increased urbanisation and greater waste generation per capita as emerging economies grow. While some regions are aiming at creating zero waste ecosystems, others are yet to truly recognise the scale of the challenges we face.

Waste results in many problems: It smells bad, looks bad and attracts vermin; it releases harmful chemicals into the soil and water when dumped and into the air when burned; around 4% of our GHG emissions are currently from waste decomposition; and no one has really yet come up with a solution for how to dispose of some of the most toxic nuclear and industrial waste in a sustainable manner.

On average in Europe, each of us produces over 500kg of domestic waste each year. On top of this we generate huge quantities of construction debris, industrial effluent, mine tailings, sewage residue and agricultural waste. Rich countries spend some $120 billion a year disposing of their municipal waste alone and another $150 billion on industrial waste.

In the next decade, can we develop a practical and achievable global strategy for sustainable resource use? Making waste prevention the norm in a global society dominated by consumerism will demand the creation of a zero waste society – but can we actually achieve zero landfill and move towards this goal? It will mean simultaneously developing the appropriate infrastructure, service provision and approaches to facilitate behaviour change in multiple particular environments. It will also require us to genuinely decouple economic growth and waste generation on a global scale.

Enabling the appropriate treatment of hazardous wastes (including toxic, radioactive clinical and biohazard materials), particularly close to or in densely populated, urban areas is a major issue. In particular, we will need to address the unethical shipping of hazardous wastes to developing countries and the subsequent adverse health effects suffered by those who handle and treat these wastes.

As economic growth has traditionally led to more waste, to prevent the future doubling in global waste predicted by some, we need to understand what are the projected increases in waste volumes in emerging nations? What will be the associated attitudes towards waste management and what infrastructure and service provision needs to be put in place and where? We must devise sustainable and practical approaches to deal with the (inevitable) increasing volumes of waste from ‘emerging nations’, their attitudes towards and ability to manage their waste responsibly.

Last, but certainly not least, we need to change all individual behaviours and attitudes and get consumers and organisations to buy products made from recycled materials and/or sustainable sources: Easier in some countries than in others.

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