Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management A Local Issue With Global Impacts

This reprint focuses on applied research in the field of solid waste management as a local issue with global dimensions. The role of circular economy practices to achieve sustainable waste management is highlighted. Furthermore, modeling techniques to assess the impacts of various waste treatment options are demonstrated. A waste-to-hydrogen energy option using metal scrap is evaluated. On a regional level, four articles from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region highlight the challenges and opportunities in the field of municipal solid waste management. Options for marine plastic reduction are highlighted. Factors and actors for the management and use of bio-solids are another topic that is covered in the reprint.

This reprint focuses on applied research in the field of solid waste management as a local issue with global dimensions. The role of circular economy practices to achieve sustainable waste management is highlighted. Furthermore, modeling techniques to assess the impacts of various waste treatment options are demonstrated. A waste-to-hydrogen energy option using metal scrap is evaluated. On a regional level, four articles from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region highlight the challenges and opportunities in the field of municipal solid waste management. Options for marine plastic reduction are highlighted. Factors and actors for the management and use of bio-solids are another topic that is covered in the reprint.

Solid waste management affects every person in the world. By 2050, the world is expected to increase waste generation by 70 percent, from 2.01 billion tonnes of waste in 2016 to 3.40 billion tonnes of waste annually. Individuals and governments make decisions about consumption and waste management that affect the daily health, productivity, and cleanliness of communities. Poorly managed waste is contaminating the world’s oceans, clogging drains and causing flooding, transmitting diseases, increasing respiratory problems, harming animals that consume waste unknowingly, and affecting economic development. Unmanaged and improperly managed waste from decades of economic growth requires urgent action at all levels of society. What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 aggregates extensive solid aste data at the national and urban levels. It estimates and projects waste generation to 2030 and 2050. Beyond the core data metrics from waste generation to disposal, the report provides information on waste management costs, revenues, and tariffs; special wastes; regulations; public communication; administrative and operational models; and the informal sector. Solid waste management accounts for approximately 20 percent of municipal budgets in low-income countries and 10 percent of municipal budgets in middle-income countries, on average. Waste management is often under the jurisdiction of local authorities facing competing priorities and limited resources and capacities in planning, contract management, and operational monitoring. These factors make sustainable waste management a complicated proposition; most low- and middle-income countries, and their respective cities, are struggling to address these challenges. Waste management data are critical to creating policy and planning for local contexts. Understanding how much waste is generated—especially with rapid urbanization and population growth—as well as the types of waste generated helps local governments to select appropriate management methods and plan for future demand. It allows governments to design a system with a suitable number of vehicles, establish efficient routes, set targets for diversion of waste, track progress, and adapt as consumption patterns change. With accurate data, governments can realistically allocate resources, assess relevant technologies, and consider strategic partners for service provision, such as the private sector or nongovernmental organizations. What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 provides the most up-to-date information available to empower citizens and governments around the world to effectively address the pressing global crisis of waste. Additional information is available at http://www.worldbank.org/what-a-waste.

Motivation The other day I was waiting at the station for my train. Next to me a young lady was nonchalantly leaning against the wall. Suddenly, she took a cigarette pack out of her handbag, pulled out the last cigarette, put it between her lips, crushed the empty pack, threw it on the ground and hedonistically lit the cigarette. I thought to myself, "What a behavior?!". The nearest trashcan was just five meters away. So I bent down, took the crushed pack and gave it back to her, saying that she had lost it. She looked at me in a rather deranged way, but she said nothing and of waste to the trashcan. brought the piece Often people are not aware of the waste they produce. They get rid of it and that's it. As soon as the charming lady dropped the cigarette pack, the problem was solved for her. The pack was on the ground and it suddenly no longer belonged to her. It is taken for granted that somebody else will do the cleaning up. There is a saying that nature does not produce waste. For long as humans obtained the goods they needed from the ground where they lived, the waste that was produced could be handled by nature. This has drastically changed due to urbanization and waste produced by human activities has become a severe burden.

Waste management considered the most complex issue in urban areas, and it is associated with a variety of complex socioeconomic and environmental issues. Rapid urbanization, change in lifestyles and rise in population has resulted in the generation of huge quantities of solid waste. The waste management system remains primitive and has failed to evolve with the demands of the rapidly changing situation. The quantity of waste generated is much higher than the quantity collected, transported and disposed of, leading to the piling up of uncollected waste in streets, public places and drains. The unsanitary methods adopted for the disposal of municipal solid wastes pose a serious health concern. The technologies that have been attempted in India run into rough terrain, failed to bring desired environmental and public health benefits. This book is comprised of articles highlighting the issues relating to problems in managing urban waste, sustainability in waste management practices and generating wealth from waste contributed by eminent scholars in this field.

Since the 1992 World Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the waste management industry has made significant technological and managerial contributions to the protection of the environment. This document summarizes contributions from a number of International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) national members. It clearly shows the significant change of the role of waste management from dealing with wastes to the new task of managing our society's metabolism.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. This compendium volume contains the most current technical and economic analyses of emerging waste disposal strategies. The editor, a well-respected researcher in this field, has selected articles that will be valuable to readers who range from engineers and academics to decision-makers in both the public and private sectors. Several international case studies give practical applications and examples of the various technologies and approaches. A final section discusses policy planning for the future.

This book will focus on "Waste Management," a serious global issue and engineers' responsibility towards finding better solutions for its sustainable management. Solid waste management is one of the major environmental burdens in both developed and developing countries alike. An alarming rate of solid waste generation trends can be seen as a result of globalization, industrialization, and rapid economic development. However, low-income and marginalized sectors in society suffer most from the unfavorable conditions deriving from poor waste management. Solid waste management is not a mere technical challenge. The environmental impact, socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal, and political aspects are fundamental in planning, designing, and maintaining a sustainable waste management system in any country. Engineers have a major role to play in designing proper systems that integrate stakeholders, waste system elements, and sustainability aspects of waste management. This book is part of a focused collection from a project on Engineering and Education for Social and Environmental Justice. It takes an explicitly social and environmental justice stance on waste and attempts to assess the social impact of waste management on those who are also the most economically vulnerable and least powerful in the society. We hope that this book will assist our readers to think critically and understand the framework of socially and environmentally just waste management. Table of Contents: Introduction / Towards a Just Politics of Waste Management / Expertise, Indigenous People, and the Site 41 Landfill / Waste Management in the Global North / Waste Management in the Global South: A Sri Lankan Case Study / Assessing the Feasibility of Waste for Life in the Western Province of Sri Lanka