A recent World Bank report titled What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 has stated that in the absence of urgent action, the current volume of global waste will rise by 70% by 2050, as a result of rapid urbanisation, population growth and unsustainable consumption patterns.
The high-income countries produce one-third of the world’s solid waste, despite comprising only 16% of the global population. A quarter of the waste generated belongs to East Asia and the Pacific regions.
More than one-third of the global waste ends up in landfills but over 90% is dumped openly in lower-income countries that lack laws related to the adequate disposal and treatment facilities. Plastics comprise 12% of all the waste and contaminate the waterways and ecosystems for thousands of years.
According to the report, solid waste management plays a critical role in ensuring that cities and communities become sustainable, healthy and inclusive spaces for living. Based on the volume of the waste generated, the composition and how it is managed, it was estimated that in 2016, 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent i.e. 5% of global emissions, was generated from the treatment and disposal of waste.
“Mismanagement of waste is harming human health and local environments while adding to the climate challenge,” said Laura Tuck, Vice President for Sustainable Development, World Bank. “Unfortunately, it is often the poorest in society who are adversely impacted by inadequate waste management. It doesn’t have to be this way. Our resources need to be used and then reused continuously so that they don’t end up in landfills.”
The report further stresses upon the need to build good waste management systems, based on circular economy principles, so that the consumer products are designed and optimized in a manner suitable for reuse and recycling. National and local governments must embrace the circular economy in order to ensure that waste is sustainably managed, thereby promoting efficient economic growth with minimal adverse environment impacts.
“It makes economic sense to properly manage waste,” said SilpaKaza, World Bank Urban Development Specialist and lead author of the report. “Uncollected waste and poorly disposed waste have significant health and environmental impacts. The cost of addressing these impacts is many times higher than the cost of developing and operating simple, adequate waste management systems. Solutions exist and we can help countries get there.”
India Outbound
December 4, 2018
source https://indiaoutbound.org/solid-waste-management-need-of-the-hour/
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