globalization & waste management

Globalization

& Waste

Management

FOREWORD Globalization is one of the major challenges for the long-term sustainability of waste management. And

vice-versa appropriate waste management is one of the key-conditions for a sustainable globalization.

There is an increasing need to focus on the linkages between globalization and waste management, and

to understand their nature.

Recognizing that globalization creates substantial changes and puts new unprecedented challenges for

waste management, ISWA has established a Task Force (TFGSWM) to study the linkages between

Globalization and Solid Waste Management, as of September 2010. The first results of this ongoing work

are presented in this report with the title “Phase 1: Concepts and facts”. The final report will be

provided in 2013.

This report presents the outcomes that have been achieved up to now, through dedicated research, a

workshop on Informal Sector Recyclers (Buenos Aires, June 2011) and a Beacon Conference on

Globalization, Urban Metabolism and Waste Management (Singapore, July 2012). All the documents are

available on line through ISWA’s Knowledge Base web page.

The TFGSWM members are the following.

Project Coordinator: Antonis Mavropoulos, ISWA STC Chair, CEO D-Waste

Scientific Coordinator: David Wilson, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Imperial College

Jeff Cooper, ISWA’s President

Costas Velis, University of Leeds

Bjorn Appelqvist, ISWA WGRWM Vice-Chair, Copenhagen Municipality

On behalf of the TFGSWM I would like to express my gratefulness to the scientists and practitioners that

have contributed up to now, either through scientific papers and presentations or through suggestions

and experiences gained from real waste management situations. A list of them is presented at the next

page.

I would like also to thank ISWA’s Board of Directors and General Secretariat for supporting this project.

I hope that the readers will find this report interesting and useful. The TFGSWM members encourage

everyone to provide feedback, comments and proposals for further research at Ms Rachael Williams,

[email protected]

For the TFGSWM

Antonis Mavropoulos

ISWA 2012

CONTENTS

Contributors 1

Acronyms 3

Synopsis 5

Global Figures 5

Interconnectivity & Governance 6

Informal Sector Recyclers 6

Megacities & Waste Management 7

Global Recycling Markets 7

Official Development Assistance 8

Introduction 10

Globalization & Waste Management Linkages 13

Global Facts & Figures for Waste Management 17

Global Interconnectivity 20

Internationalization of Science & Technology 23

Informal Sector as a Recycling Partner 26

Waste Management in Megacities 29

Global Recycling Markets 35

International Aid Tools 40

Suggested Reading 4

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LISTS OF TABLES & FIGURES

List of Tables Table 1: Key-aspects to study the globalization and waste management linkages 15 Table 2: Ways of extracting and adding value to recovered waste materials 27 Table 3: Challenges in waste management in emerging – transition megacities and mature ones 30 Table 4: Suggestions regarding waste management in megacities 31 Table 5: Benchmarking indicators for waste management 34

List of Figures Figure 1: The contrast between the added value of an i-Pad and the e-waste paths identified 11 Figure 2: Globalization and waste management linkages 15 Figure 3: Distribution of population without access to elementary waste management services 18 Figure 4: Relation between per capita waste generation, development level and income level 18 Figure 5: Internet penetration rates per region 20 Figure 6: Internet users per region 21 Figure 7: Remotest places on earth 21 Figure 8: Triadic patents families’ distribution per million of population 23 Figure 9: Trends in scientific cooperation as expressed by authorship 24 Figure 10: Trends in export market shares of environmental goods 24 Figure 11: Proportion of patenting in environmental technologies in overall patenting 25 Figure 12: Overall analytical framework & typology of interventions, showing the interdependencies 28 Figure 13: Linkages between Globalization - Megacities & Waste Management 32 Figure 14: Generation & Transboundary Movement of Waste in Asia and the Pacific 35 Figure 15: Factors influencing Global Recycling Market 36 Figure 16: Trends in major ODA sectors related with waste management as % of the overall ODA 40 Figure 17: Waste management projects share in total Water Supply & Sanitation ODA 41 Figure 18: Changes in different ODA sectors 2006-2010 41

1 CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS

Participants of the Informal Sector Recycling Workshop – June 2011, Buenos Aires, supported by ARS Pablo Schamber, National Institute for Politic Training – Argentina Sergio Sanchez, El Amanecer de los Cartoneros, MTE, BsA – Argentina Cristina Lescano, El Ceibo cooperative-BsAs – Argentina Ana Corbi, Adviser at Environmental Secretariat – Argentina Andrea Ferrarazzo, Fundación Ciudad – Argentina Soledad Garavelli, ARS – Argentina Lucia Fernandez, WIEGO – France Janya Sang-Arun, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies – Japan Ashish Chaturvedi, GIZ – India Jose Penido Monteiro, Web-Resol – Brazil Carlos Silva Fihlo, ABRELPE – Brazil Alberto Bianchini, ISWA, ABRELPE – Brazil Viviana Basata, Ministerio de Desarrollo Social – Uruguay Ondina Rocca, Imperial College London – Italy/UK Costas Velis, University of Leeds Bjorn Appelqvist, ISWA WGRWM Vice-Chair, Copenhagen Municipality Jeff Cooper, ISWA’s President Antonis Mavropoulos, ISWA STC Chair, CEO D-Waste

Speakers at Beacon Conference on Globalization, Urban Metabolism and Waste Management, supported by WasteMet Asia 2012 Arab Hoballah, Chief of the Sustainable Consumption & Production (SCP) Branch, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), France Antonis Mavropoulos, ISWA STC Chair, CEO D-Waste David Newman, ISWA Vice President & CIC Managing Director (Council of Italian Composters), Italy Paul Brunner, Professor & Head of Waste and Resources Management Group, Vienna University, Austria Costas Velis, University of Leeds Masaru Tanaka, Professor and Director, Sustainability Research Institute, Tottori University of Environmental Studies, Japan Mie Kodwo, Head of Research and Development Department of Zoomlion and a consultant in The Institute of Sanitation and Waste Management (TISWM), Ghana Ong Seng Eng, Director, Waste & Resource Management Department, National Environment Agency, Singapore Prasad Modak, Executive President, Environmental Management Centre LLP, India Carlo Ratti, Associate Professor of the Practice, Director, SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT, USA Dimitris Kaliampakos, Professor, Mining Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece Michael Batty, Professor of Planning, University College London, UK Derek Greedy, President CIWM, UK Hermann Koller, Managing Director ISWA, Austria

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2 GLOBALIZATION & WASTE MANAGEMENT

Nickolas J Themelis, Director, Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University & Chair, Global WTERT Council, USA

Speakers at ISWA's session "A Global Perspective on Current Developments in Solid Waste Management", IFAT ENTSORGA, May 2012, Munich, Germany Jeff Cooper (ISWA President) Antonis Mavropoulos (ISWA STC Chair) Hermann Koller (ISWA MD) Vivek Agrawal (WG Collection and Transportation Technology) Bettina Kamuk (Chair WG Energy Recovery) Maarten Goorhuis (Chair WG Recycling and Waste Minimisation Dipak R. Pant (Interdisciplinary Unit for Sustainable Economy Università Carlo Cattaneo) Patrick Dorvil (European Investment Bank) David Newman (ISWA Vice President)

3 ACRONYMS

ACRONYMS AD – Anaerobic Digestion EU – European Union FDI – Foreign Direct Investments GDP – Gross Domestic Products GHG – Green House Gases GNI – Gross National Income HDI – Human Development Index ISR – Informal Sector Recyclers ISWA – International Solid Waste Association MBT – Biological Treatment NGO – Non Governmental Association ODA – Official Development Assistance OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development SWM – Solid Waste Management TFGWM – Task Force on Globalization & Waste Management WtE – Waste to Energy

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5 SYNOPSIS

SYNOPSIS Globalization is one of the major challenges for the long-term sustainability of waste management. And




Recognizing that globalization creates substantial changes and puts new unprecedented challenges for

waste management, ISWA has established a Task Force (TFGWM) to study the linkages between

Globalization and Solid Waste Management, as of September 2010. The first results of this ongoing work

are presented in this report with the title “Phase 1: Concepts and facts”. The final report will be

provided in 2013.

This report presents the outcomes that have been achieved up to now, through dedicated research, a

workshop on Informal Sector Recyclers (Buenos Aires, June 2011) and a Beacon Conference on

Globalization, Urban Metabolism and Waste Management (Singapore, July 2012). All the documents are

available on line through ISWA’s Knowledge Base web page. The major findings are the following.

Global Figures Today, the total amount of waste generated annually worldwide (municipal, industrial, hazardous) is

more than 4 billion tons. The municipal solid waste is between 1.6-2.0 billion tons and due to both the

increase of population and the increasing GNI/capita growth in developing countries, new tremendous

amounts of municipal, industrial and hazardous waste are entering into the waste stream every day. As

an example it has been estimated that globally, urban food waste is going to increase by 44% from 2005

to 2025. As a global measure of the expected impacts, if present waste management trends are

maintained, landfilled food waste is predicted to increase the landfill share of global anthropogenic

Greenhouse Gas emissions from 8 to 10%.

The global value of the waste industry is estimated in US$433 billion annually.

Around 70% of the municipal waste produced worldwide is driven to dumpsites and sanitary landfills,

11% is treated to thermal and Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities and the rest 19% is recycled or treated by

Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT), including composting.

It is estimated that more than 3.5 billion or more than 52% of the 2008 Earth’s population does not have

access to the most elementary Waste Management services like e.g. a sound waste collection and

removal out of the residential areas and at least a controlled disposal. The problem is mainly urban and

it is expected to be further increase due to the rapid urbanization process that will take place next 15

years. The lack of waste collection services and the use of open dumps is evidenced by the amounts of

plastic waste ending up in our oceans, over 7 million tons annually.

These shocking figures clearly demonstrate both the serious health and environmental risks related to

waste management and the need for upgrading waste management in the global and local agendas.

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ISWA is committed to deliver a global action plan and several particular activities dedicated to increase

the awareness regarding waste management among leading international organizations and key-

governments.

Interconnectivity & Governance The report puts special emphasis on the increasing interconnectivity of the world and its implications to

waste management. ISWA says that a new global landscape has been created by the 2.7 billion Internet

users, the almost 650 million websites, the almost 1 billion users of different social media and the 6

billion users of cellular phones.

As an example the rapidly increasing international cooperation between scientists, professionals and

multinational companies has resulted in a serious internationalization of science and technology. This

trend is evidenced by a) the almost 25% increase (in just 3 years) of the patents that are globally

registered, b) the important increase of the international co-authorship of scientific articles which has

tripled between 1985-2007 and c) the rapid growth of the environmental goods and services share in

exports which were more than 370 billion US $ at 2006 in OECD countries.

ISWA says that this landscape provides new challenges for waste management that have not been

studied and discussed yet. Those challenges include advanced opportunities for a better interaction

between citizens, authorities and waste management stakeholders that will result in substantial waste

prevention and recycling activities utilizing the advanced interconnectivity.

This growing interconnectivity both supports further globalization and flow of cultures, ideas and trends

and at the same time it results in serious impacts to waste management governance patterns. First,

globalisation makes it increasingly difficult for states to rely only on national regulation about waste

management in order to ensure the wellbeing of their citizens and their environment. Second, there is a

growing demand and need for global regulation, especially the means to enforce existing agreements

and build upon their authority to improve environmental performance. Third, globalisation facilitates

the involvement of a growing diversity of participants and their coalitions in addressing waste

management issues, including other governments and international organizations, global market players

and local-global civil society actors. Fourth, the direct increase of international financial flows dedicated

to waste management creates a new arena for local decision-making, especially for the countries that

are receivers of grants, FDI and loans.

The report also provides key-insights regarding the Informal Sector Recyclers (ISR), the waste

management in megacities, the global recycling markets and the Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Informal Sector Recyclers It is estimated that Informal Sector Recyclers (ISR) are around 20 million worldwide, almost 50% of the

labour force involved in waste management. Despite the difficult, risky and problematic conditions

where ISR are working, it has to be mentioned that, especially in transition countries and the emerging

megacities, their contribution to recycling and recovery rates is important and in many cases the only

organized one.

7 SYNOPSIS

ISWA identifies a major opportunity for win-win solutions – building recycling rates, protecting and

developing people’s livelihoods, addressing the negative aspects of current informal recycling on health

and the environment, and reducing costs to the city of managing its wastes – if the informal sector can

be included more successfully within an integrated and sustainable waste management system.

Megacities & Waste Management Megacities (cities with a total population in excess of 10 million people) are a product of the continuous

urbanization process. The number of megacities is increasing and by 2015, there will be 33 mega-cities,

27 of them in the developing world. Megacities population is estimated to increase by 280,000 people

per day and in the year 2015 the total population of megacities worldwide will be about 359 million.

Waste management in megacities is one of the most important environmental challenges and due to

their interface with the global economy, it has a global dimension. The quality of waste management

services is a good indicator of a city’s governance. The way in which waste is produced and discarded

gives us a key insight into how people live.

It is obvious that a waste management system in any city but especially in a megacity is much more than

a local system. Megacities, as it is well established, represent the key-nodes of this global network. Part

of the sustainability agenda seems to be en effort for more self-reliance of cities, trying to contain waste

flows, reduce energy and resource consumption and increase local and global recycling and reuse of

materials. Consequently, waste prevention is becoming also an increasing importance trend worldwide.

A major barrier comes from the complex interactions between the hundreds of stakeholders involved in

a megacity waste management. Another serious barrier comes from the lack of initiatives to integrate

the informal sector into waste management activities.

ISWA calls for a more systemic approach of waste management in megacities and global cities. Another

interesting point is the lack of global benchmarking techniques and methods regarding waste

management. ISWA is seeking ways to contribute for an appropriate waste management benchmarking

system.

Despite the serious problems of waste management in megacities, there is also the other side of them.

Megacities are also places of intensive human interaction and this creates scaled results (innovation,

growth, living standards) that otherwise will never be created. The increased interconnectivity of

populations in megacities and their character as innovation hubs must be further discussed, analyzed

and utilized for a better waste management.

Global Recycling Markets The last decades a great number of consumer products are transported worldwide in order to be sold

and used. In addition a huge amount of waste has been traded due to the latest emergence of China, as

the new workshop of the World, and of other SE Asian Tiger economies. From all waste streams trade of

plastic is increasingly coming through at intercontinental level. More than 50% of plastics, paper and

scrap ferrous metals are being exported to South East Asia and this trend is not expected to decline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population

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In 2010 China imported more than 7.4 million tonnes of plastics waste and around 28 million tonnes of

waste paper and over 5.8 million tonnes of steel scrap. Apparently, the EU is increasingly acting like a

single market in terms of hazardous and problematic waste treatment. In 2005 nearly 20% of the waste

shipped was for disposal while the remaining 80% was shipped for recovery operations.

Waste trade of specific streams has been significantly affected by waste shipment regulations and

market forces. In general there are a number of factors which influencing global network of raw

materials and recyclables flows such as the global economic cycle, the supply and demand for raw and

secondary materials, the recycling technologies available, the design of products, the market

fluctuations and speculations etc.

Besides global recycling markets which contribute to the recovery of huge quantities of materials, waste

trafficking activities are developed. ISWA regards the need to fight against waste trafficking as a

necessary and fully integrated part in establishing of a sound, global system for solid waste

management.

ISWA calls for a global strategy against waste trafficking that includes:

Awareness raising, information and communication about the problems related to waste

trafficking

Making necessary information (e.g. rules and regulations related to proper waste handling in

general and trans-boundary shipments) easily accessible to waste producers

Simplifying the administration related to trans-boundary waste shipments

Providing means for waste producers to more easily able to identify and get in contact with

serious, law-abiding waste brokers and handlers

Official Development Assistance Overall, according OECD’s database Official Development Assistance (ODA) increased by 25% between

2006 and 2010, reaching almost 164 billion $ in 2010. Straightforward waste management projects

count between 0.16-0.32% of the total ODA, ranging between 257-415 million $/year for the same

years.

Overall, it seems that there is a declining trend in the relevant importance of waste management

projects within the ODA financial flows. Waste management remains a very small part of the overall

ODA, less than 0.5% which is a disappointing sign for the importance of waste management in global

decision making and especially in ODA. Although the overall ODA is steadily increasing (despite the

2008-2009 crisis), waste management is marginally increased just about almost 5%. This second remark

is definitely linked with the fact that the successful preparation and implementation of a serious waste

management project is definitely much more difficult and time consuming than other ODA sectors’

projects.

Regarding the lessons learnt by ODA waste management projects, waste management projects are

welcomed thanks to increased awareness, but their relative priority is not high enough to be fully

supported by the recipient governments and societies. The necessity for more emphasis on the creation

9 SYNOPSIS

of waste management systems rather than facilities is another key-issue. For example, many fully

mechanized treatment facilities have been abandoned due to high operation and maintenance cost,

which are known as "white elephants".

It seems that conventional technological approaches to waste management are not working in emerging

and transitional megacities because they involve imported solutions that are centralized and suitable for

different socio-economic conditions and so the possibility of decentralized models must be examined.

ISWA believes financing of waste management projects in economically developing countries is an

international priority – waste badly managed in developing countries affects the populations of all

nations eventually. Mechanisms for financing through the international treaties, such as Climate

Change, Desertification, Biodiversity, Ocean Protection, etc., should be put on the agenda immediately

and developed nations should ensure an adequate portion of their ODA is destined to waste

management.

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INTRODUCTION Globalization is one of the major challenges for the long-term sustainability of waste management. And




Until today the overall interactions between globalization as a dominant worldwide process and waste

management activities on a local and global scale have not been discussed and investigated in details.

There are at least three main reasons that explain this lack of relevant research and associated

literature. First, waste management is often underestimated as a global problem; it is rather faced as a

national or local one by most decision makers and institutional bodies. Second, global recycling and

recovery activities are usually dealt with in the framework of the economy and resource management,

even when the environmental benefits are highlighted. Third, the overall relationship between

environment and globalization is not yet fully explored and understood.

Even so, there are strong arguments which indicate that a conceptual framework for understanding the

relation between globalization and waste management is required. Until some decades ago, products

were largely produced near their areas of consumption and wastes were managed near their source of

production. Nowadays, a lot of popular and mass produced consumer products are being distributed

worldwide. Waste management is linked increasingly to resource management and so it has evolved

into a complicated global network of material and recyclable waste flows, affecting various aspects of

the environment and the life of citizens, raising questions on practices that need to be deeply explored

and managed in a sustainable way. As waste management becomes more and more integrated with

resource management, the globalization process becomes an internal aspect of many decisions that

affect local waste management practices. The collapse of many recycling programs in different countries

during the 2008 global economic crisis highlighted that effect. Waste trafficking provides also another

argument for the necessity for a deeper analysis of the relation between waste management and

globalization. And there are examples like e-waste management where any progress is almost

impossible without a thorough understanding of the global landscape and context.

Figure 1 provides the contrast between the global value distribution of one of the most modern and

trendy gadgets and the global e-waste distribution identified. It seems that the global community can

measure all the details, with a high accuracy, about the costs’ and profits’ distribution of an I-Pad but

the routes and the impacts of e-waste trafficking are not even accountable yet.

11 INTRODUCTION

The distribution value of an i-Pad (Kraemer, 2011)

The distribution of e-waste (http://www.ierc.info/e-waste-dumping-an-interactive-map/)

Figure 1: The contrast between the added value of an i-Pad and the e-waste paths identified. Notice that the profits are realized in countries-sources of e-waste trafficking

The volume and the diversity of waste streams are rising, and in this framework many countries are

facing serious degradation of their natural and urban environments, especially in the developing world.

Increasing waste volume is not just a waste management issue. It is a symptom of inadequate methods

of producing and consuming products and goods worldwide. Waste represents not only an

environmental threat but also a loss of valuable resources and energy that could be reused or

recovered. Also now on most occasions the impacts of resource extraction are thousands miles away

from the places where products are consumed.

Climate change is the essence of the interconnection, interdependence and interaction of economy and

ecology on a global level. Solutions that will mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases and help to adapt

http://www.ierc.info/e-waste-dumping-an-interactive-map/

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to its unavoidable consequences must be found. The complexity of the issue requires the acceptance of

a common responsibility from both the public and private sectors, on a global scale. Thus, the progress

of climate change science, and the relative contribution of waste management, is a perfect mean to

demonstrate how local waste management practices contribute to global scale effects (ISWA 2010a).

Globalization has been developed together with the process of rapid urbanization. The nodes of the

global economic network are the existing, and emerging megacities, where waste management is

usually a very difficult problem, hardly to be understood without having an idea of the global dynamics

of megacities and urbanization.

13 GLOBALISATION & WASTE MANAGEMENT LINKAGES

GLOBALISATION & WASTE MANAGEMENT LINKAGES There are two way linkages between globalization and waste management: not only does globalization

influence and change waste management practices (e.g. consumerism trends, Basel convention,

worldwide spread of recycling), but also waste management practices affect the way globalization

progresses (e.g. establishing global recycling markets, waste trafficking). At the very least, this happens

because both primary, and recovered resources, provide the fuel for economic globalization, but also

because social and policy responses to global environmental challenges constrain and influence the

context in which globalization happens.

Increased international trade in the last few decades has reduced poverty in many developing countries

and raised living standards and purchasing power. At the same time it creates a remarkable footprint to

waste management. First, it has de-linked production centres from consumption places. The globalized

economy can in addition create globalized externalities and reinforce international inequalities. Local

environmental and financial decisions can contribute in global solutions and to the growth of prosperity,

but the environmental impacts and the financial consequences can be externalised in sites and among

people that are far away. Another effect of globalization is the incorporation of environmental standards

in trade agreements, which now represent a major issue for negotiation between developed and

developing countries.

It is mentioned (Pant, 2012) that due to globalization process, even the remote and marginal territories

become important as these extreme lands are most likely to offer precious mineral, energy or timber

resources. Being mostly out of sight and out of mind the extreme lands also serve as the dumping sites

of wastes that nobody wants in their backyard.

Globalization has also created the global recycling market and network, which is increasingly integrated

into resource supply chains. It has also created serious waste trafficking problems. This evolution of the

recycling market has created global recycling hubs, like China and SE Asia, which really support waste

recovery efforts worldwide. At the same time new problems and challenges concerning the quality and

the final use of recyclables have emerged. A key-issue regarding the global recycling market is the role of

informal sector as a major provider of recyclable wastes. Serious efforts have started in order to

incorporate Informal Sector Recyclers in the supply chains of several products.

Due to globalization, a remarkably improved GNI/capita, in a lot of developing countries has been

achieved, which, in combination with the rapid population increase, creates conditions for growing

mountains of waste, in those countries with the less infrastructure in place to receive them. Since

globalization goes together with marginalization phenomena (in all levels e.g. within continents, nations,

countries, cities and individuals’ livelihoods), in both the economic and the environmental dimension

(poverty-environmental degradation nexus), serious health and environmental problems due to

inappropriate waste management might become permanent for many marginalized areas.

Globalization created a new framework in which the linkages between waste management and climate

change have become clearer, and a universal understanding for how local decisions in SWM contribute

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to global phenomena has been concerned. In fact, the global impacts of SWM (as highlighted by GHGs)

are an obvious exemplification of the need for scientific tools and methods of global acceptance, the

need of organisations, and mechanisms, to disperse globally the current state of the art of knowledge

and technologies regarding SWM, and the necessity of global action, and coordination, for a more

sustainable SWM.

Globalization has also resulted in a direct increase of international financial flows including foreign direct

investments (FDI), grants, as well as loans by international institutions such as the World Bank. Official

Development Assistance (ODA) is usually one of the major ways where those financial flows take place.

Technologies of environmental care can move across boundaries quicker, but so can technologies of

environmental degradation. Information flows can connect workers and citizens across boundaries and

oceans, such as the rise of global social movements as well as of outsourcing, but they can also threaten

social and economic networks at the local level. Environmentalism, as a norm, has become truly global,

but so has mass consumerism.

Global interactions facilitate exchange of environmental knowledge and best practice. That is true for

waste management as well, where a lot of international scientific and professional networks do exist,

providing an enormous amount of information every year.

Environmental consciousness increases with emergence of global environmental networks and civil

society movements. NGOs play a very important role in that, especially the global ones. Therefore

accidents, failures and waste mismanagement stories are rapidly spread worldwide providing arguments

to local discussions and food for thought for local decision-makers. The example of Naples’ waste

management is representative.

Globalization facilitates the spread of existing technologies, and the emergence of new technologies is

often replacing existing technologies with more resource extractive alternatives. The adoption of

greener technologies may also be spurred. In the case of waste management technologies, it is obvious

that more recycling, more composting, more landfills but also more MBT, AD, and thermal treatment

must be expected as a result of the increased prosperity emerging in developing countries. On the other

hand, there might be local solutions developed for local providers which could be more appropriate for

specific waste management purposes, such as customized collection vehicles in several emerging

megacities for example, than the already commercially available.

Globalization places great stress on existing patterns of global governance with the shrinking of both

time and space, the expanding role of non-state actors and increasingly complex inter-state interactions.

The global nature of the environment demands global environmental governance. Indeed a worldwide

infrastructure of international agreements and institutions has emerged and continues to grow. But

many of today’s global environmental problems have outgrown the governance systems designed to

solve them. Many of these institutions, however, struggle as they have to respond to an ever increasing

set of global challenges, while remaining constrained by institutional design principles inherited from an

earlier, more state-centric, world.

15 GLOBALISATION & WASTE MANAGEMENT LINKAGES

Urbanization is also a major tend directly linked with globalization. Since 2007 the majority of the

human population was concentrated in urban areas. According official reports by 2007 3.2 billion people

- a number larger than the entire global population of 1967 - live in cities. From the 3 billion increase of

the population expected until 2030-2040, 60-65% will be housed in urban and metropolitan areas. By

2050, an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, imposing even more

pressure on the space, infrastructure and resources of cities, leading to social disintegration and horrific

urban poverty.

Figure 2 summarizes the globalization and waste management linkages as described. Urbanization is not

presented at Figure 2 because it will be further discussed in details.

Figure 2: Globalization and waste management linkages (Mavropoulos 2011c)

Taking into account the previous discussion and in order to address the globalization and waste

management linkages in a more specific way, ISWA’s Task Force on Globalization and Waste

Management decided to focus its work at the key-aspects presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Key-aspects to study the globalization and waste management linkages

KEY-ASPECTS COMMENTS

Informal sector as a global recycling partner Informal sector plays a crucial role in building global recycling rates (Wilson 2006, 2009, 2012)

Megacities and waste management It is a global problem, especially in transition economies and it is directly affected by globalization process

Global recycling markets and resource recovery It directly affects recycling activities worldwide and becomes crucial for the sustainability of waste management systems

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International aid tools and their application to waste management

As Official Development Assistance and Foreign Direct Investment flows are increasing, there is a need to assess major experiences related to waste management projects

The results that have been achieved up to now will be presented and discussed at the next paragraphs.

17 GLOBAL FACTS & FIGURES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT

GLOBAL FACTS & FIGURES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT According to the UN around 2025, the world population will be 8 billion inhabitants, and around 2050,

the total population will be around 9.5 billion, 50% more than the current one. 97% of this growth will

be realized in Asia and Africa. The rising middle class in emerging countries will shape both the

economic, and the political landscape. In this framework, waste management is one of the key global

and local challenges, directly related not only with the daily life of people but also with the global

changes and perspectives.

Today, the total amount of waste generated annually worldwide (municipal, industrial, hazardous) is

more than 4 billion tons (Veolia, 2009). Almost 45% of it is considered as municipal solid waste, while

the rest is industrial waste, including hazardous one. Both the increase of population and the

GDP/capita growth in developing countries will create new tremendous amounts of municipal, industrial

and hazardous waste. It has been estimated that globally, urban food waste is going to increase by 44%

from 2005 to 2025. As a global measure of the expected impacts, if present waste management trends

are maintained, landfilled food waste is predicted to increase the landfill share of global anthropogenic

emissions from 8 to 10%.5 (Adhikari et al, 2006).

In developing countries, millions of people are working in informal recycling activities making their living

in difficult and risky conditions. On the other hand, their activities contribute to global recycling rates

and create employment opportunities for marginalized populations. Recycling is one of the most

important sectors in terms of employment creation and currently employs 12 million people in just

three countries - Brazil, China and the United States. Overall, including the informal sector, the number

of people working in recycling is assessed to more than 20 millions.

Waste management industry is one of the most dynamic ones on a global scale. With an annual turnover

above 430 billion $ and around 40 million workers (including informal recyclers), the industry covers a

huge variety of operations for different waste streams and different phases of the waste life-cycle. It is

considered that the industry will further grow, especially in developing countries, and recycling business

will be the cornerstone of it.

Based on different ways of assessment, it was estimated that the global population without access to

Elementary Waste Management (meaning sound waste collection and removal out of the residential

areas, and at least controlled disposal in “engineered” landfills) is more than 3.5 billion or more than

52% of the 2008 Earth’s population (D-Waste 2012a). Figure 3 presents the geographical distribution of

the population without access to Elementary Waste Management.

Per capita waste generation increases with both the development level (expressed by the Human

Development Index) and the income level (GNI/capita) of the country (Wilson et al, 2012). Figure 4

presents this relation.

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Figure 3: Distribution of population (2008 data) without access to elementary waste management services (D-Waste 2012a)

Comparing data from 20 different cities (Wilson et al, 2012) it seems that there are several global

patterns related to waste composition. Paper percentages appear relatively low outside of the high-

income countries. The detailed data show 14 cities reporting 3-10%, with only four cities reporting more

than 15%. Glass and metals are both relatively low, with 16 of the cities in the range 0-4% for both.

Plastic levels appear generally higher, but do not show the perhaps expected increase with income level.

Finally organic levels generally follow expectations, with the five cities in Europe, North America and

Australia (i.e. the four high-income cities plus Varna in Bulgaria) reporting 24-34% (average 28%) and 13

of the 15 “Southern” middle- and low-income countries within the range 48-81% (average 67%). This

reflects both the lower consumption of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables and the higher prevalence of

packaging and other consumer products that end up in the waste stream in high income countries.

Figure 4: Relation between per capita waste generation, development level (expressed by HDI) and income level (expressed by GNI/cap) (Wilson et al, 2012)

19 GLOBAL FACTS & FIGURES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT

From the same 20 cities, it seems that collection coverage is probably more than it was expected as a

result of the systematic efforts of cities to increase service coverage. Almost half of the reference cities,

including all but two of the cities with a GNI/capita above US$1600 (or an HDI of 0.75), report coverage

rates of 99-100%; the exceptions being the two South American cities.

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GLOBAL INTERCONNECTIVITY The growing interconnectivity is a crucial characteristic of the current world, and its impact to waste

management is multidimensional. Interconnectivity is related to internet, social media, mobile phone

users, etc. Extremely fast growing of such technologies affects in plural dimensions the life of people

globally and unavoidably it affects waste management as well.

According the INTERNET WORLD STATS between 1995 and 2011 Internet has evolved exponentially

reaching almost 2.27 billion users at the end of 2011, namely 32.7% of the global population. Figure 5

and 6 present Internet penetration and users per region.

But apart from reaching every corner of our planet, Internet applications, sites and networks are

multiplying with fast rhythms. Characteristically, it is mentioned that in March 2012 there were detected

644,275,754 websites whereas the same number for December 2011 was 582,716,657. Only in March

2012 there were initiated 31.4 million websites, which comes to around 5.1% as compared to the total

number of websites in the world until February 2012.

The statistics for some social media are also quite impressive. Google+ growth keeps accelerating. From

the 10 million users that it was reporting on 13th July 2011, it reached around 62 million users at the end

of 2011. As for Facebook, the total number of its users was 835,525,280 at the end of March 2012,

namely its penetration to the global population reaches around 12.1%.

Figure 5: Internet penetration rates per region (IWS 2012)

According the current trends around 2020 more than 10 billions of different gadgets, including mobile

phones, laptops, PCs, tablets, smart phones and wireless car and home appliances will be used

worldwide. This tremendous number of interconnected gadgets and people will reshape the way

internet and mobile phones are used in daily life.

78,67%

68,57% 61,40%

39,53% 35,65%

26,21%

13,49%

0,00%

10,00%

20,00%

30,00%

40,00%

50,00%

60,00%

70,00%

80,00%

90,00%

North America Oceania / Australia

Europe Latin America / Carib.

Middle East Asia Africa

Internet Penetration rates per region (percentage %)

21 GLOBAL INTERCONNECTIVITY

Figure 6: Internet users per region (IWS 2012)

In three years there have been developed more than 300,000 mobile applications, which have been

downloaded 10.9 billion times. Some of the most popular mobile applications include money transfer,

Location-Based Services, Mobile browsing, Mobile Payment (m-payment), Mobile music and others.

Another dimension regards the spatial interconnectivity. Special maps have been prepared by

researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, and the World Bank.

Plotted onto a map, the results throw up surprises (Figure 7).

First, less than 10 % of the world's land is more than 48 hours of ground-based travel from the nearest

city. What's more, many areas considered remote and inaccessible are not as far from civilization as it

used to be considered. In the Amazon, for example, extensive river networks and an increasing number

of roads mean that only 20 % of the land is more than two days from a city - around the same

proportion as Canada's Quebec province. The maps were created to show how the distribution of

people affects their access to resources such as education and medical care, and how we are

increasingly pushing wildlife out of even the wildest corners of our planet.

Figure 7: Remotest places on earth - only 10% of our planet is considered remote which means more than 48 hours away from a city! Dark areas are the ones with less population density. Bright areas represent high population density. Tibetan

plateau is considered the remotest place in the world (New Scientist 2009)

485

245

100 99,18 75,98 65,13 59,7 51,44 45,26 43,98

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

China United States

India Japan Brazil Germany Russia United Kingdom

France Nigeria

Internet users in 2011 (in million)

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This growing interconnectivity both supports further globalization and flow of cultures, ideas and trends

and at the same time it results to serious impacts to governance patterns. One can identify four more

specific areas where interconnectivity is obviously affecting waste management. First, globalisation

makes it increasingly difficult for states to rely only on national regulation about waste management in

order to ensure the wellbeing of their citizens and their environment. Second, there is a growing

demand and need for global regulation, especially the means to enforce existing agreements and build

upon their authority to improve environmental performance. This is more than obvious in the case of

hazardous wastes but not only of course those wastes. Third, globalisation facilitates the involvement of

a growing diversity of participants and their coalitions in addressing waste management issues, including

other governments and international organizations, global market players and local-global civil society

actors. Fourth, the direct increase of international financial flows dedicated to waste management

creates a new arena for local decision-making, especially for the countries that are receivers of grants,

FDI and loans.

23 INTERNATIOLISATION OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

INTERNATIOLISATION OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Interconnectivity also drives the internationalization of science and technology. There are certain

indicators that outline the rapid internationalization of science and technology.

The first is the number of triadic patents families. According OECD triadic patents families are defined as

a set of patents taken at the European Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office and the US Patent and

trademark Office that protect a same invention. The increasing number of triadic patent families reflects

the rapid internationalization of science and technology. In 2007 about 52,000 were filed, compared to

less than 42,000 three years ago. Figure 8 presents the distribution of triadic patents at 2007 per million

of population per country. USA accounted for almost 31% of triadic patents families, with EU and Japan

being the other two regions that hold the majority of them. The surge of innovative activities in Asia is

clearly reflected in growing country shares although in absolute numbers the distance from the leading

countries is remarkable. Korea and China were among the top 12 countries in 2007 and India has also

climbed up a lot in rankings. However, relatively to total population (Figure 6), the importance of

developing countries is less clear, with China having less that 0.5 patent families per million of

population.

Figure 8: Triadic patents families’ distribution per million of population, 2007 (OECD 2010)

Another interesting indicator of the globalization of science and technology is the amount of the co-

authored articles. Figure 9 presents the trends in cooperation regarding scientific articles for four

different types of authorship (single, single institution co-authorship, domestic authorship and

international co-authorship), for the years 1982 – 2007. International co-authorship has been growing as

0 25 50 75 100 125

Mexico India Chile

Turkey Brazil China

Russian Federation Poland

Slovak Republic Portugal Greece

Czech Republic Estonia

Hungary Spain

Slovenia New Zealand

Italy Iceland

Australia Ireland

Canada Norway

United Kingdom France

Belgium Luxembourg OECD total

Korea Austria

United States Denmark

Finland Netherlands

Israel (2) Germany Sweden

Japan Switzerland

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fast as domestic one. In 2007, 21.9% of scientific articles involved international co-authorship, a figure

three times higher than in 1985 (OECD 2010). This important increase in both domestic and

international co-authorship reflects the crucial role of interconnectivity and interaction between

researchers as a way to diversify their sources of knowledge.

Figure 9: Trends in scientific cooperation as expressed by authorship (OECD 2010)

Environmental technology international flows are also important. Figure 10 (OECD 2010) presents the

trends in export market share of environmental goods.

Figure 10: Trends in export market shares of environmental goods 2002-2006 (OECD 2010)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300 Thousands

International co-authorship

Single-institution co-authorship

Domestic co-authorship

Single author

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Ind

ex 2

00

2 =

10

0

OECD merchandise exports

OECD EG exports

BRICS merchandise exports

BRICS EG exports

25 INTERNATIOLISATION OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Exports of environmental goods include business segments (services and products) like Pollution

Management, Resource Management and Clean Technologies. Exports of environmental goods in OECD

area reached 370 billion $ in 2006, or 1% of its GDP or nearly 6% of its merchandise exports. In the same

years BRICs group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) exported almost 43 billion $, accounted

also for 1% of their GDP and 2.7% of their total merchandise exports. However, BRICs dynamics in

environmental goods export is obvious. It increases much faster than their total merchandise rate,

reaching an annual average growth of 35%.

As for the kind of goods exported, more than 25% of the exports concern wastewater treatment, which

is the fastest growing market segment, followed by air pollution control, waste management and

environmental monitoring equipment.

Figure 11 (OECD 2010) presents the participation of different environmental technologies in overall

patenting, as a measure of the generation of innovative environmental technologies.

Figure 11: Proportion of patenting in environmental technologies in overall patenting 1990- 2005

Most innovation in environmental technologies takes place in OECD countries. Between 1978 and 2006

almost all 98% of the patents related to air pollution and wastewater treatment were deposited by

investors from OECD countries. In recent years, non-OECD countries have started to become important

innovators. Comparing the inventive activity (in air, water and waste sectors) in OECD countries with

those of enhanced engagement and accession countries clearly shows that the latter have become very

active.

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8%

Indonesia

Iran

Portugal

Russian Federation

Venezuela

Luxembourg

Poland

Ukraine

Belarus

Slovak Republic

Czech Republic

Air Water Waste

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INFORMAL SECTOR AS A RECYCLING PARTNER The outcomes regarding the Informal sector work stream are still under further elaboration. However,

the data presented below is based on the article “InteRa - a new analytical framework and tool for

integrating the informal sector recycling in waste and resource management systems in developing

countries” (Velis et al, 2012) which is under the review process in Waste Management & Research

Journal.

Solid waste recycling in most low- and middle-income developing countries is generally carried out by

the informal sector, which also often provides primary collection services (Medina 2008). Activities vary

widely, ranging from groups organized in cooperatives providing door-to-door collection of either

recyclates separated at-source or of mixed waste which they then sort, to individuals scavenging in open

dumps, transfer stations and communal bins (Wilson 2006). Notably, by informal sector recycling (ISR)

we refer to ‘individuals or enterprises who are involved in recycling and waste management activities

but are not sponsored, financed, recognized or allowed by the formal solid waste authorities, or who

operate in violation of or in competition with formal authorities” (Scheinberg 2010), which is quite

different to than in other contexts, where the term may be synonymous with the ‘black economy’.

Namely, informal sector waste and recycling workers and businesses can be and often are registering

with the authorities and pay taxes: in this case, the definition of informality relates to their lack of

recognized status within the solid waste sector. There is increasing consensus among all stakeholders

and experts that the informal recycling sector should not and in fact cannot be ignored while attempting

to improve waste and resource management systems in developing countries (Chaturvedi 2011, Sang-

Arun 2011).

Accumulating evidence suggests that these activities can be beneficial to formal municipal waste and

resource management, in addition to providing a livelihood to around 0.5% of the urban population

(Scheinberg 2010, Wilson 2012). Specifically, informal sector and micro-enterprise recycling, reuse and

repair systems achieve considerable recycling rates – often 20-30% wt. in low-income countries (Wilson

2009; Wilson 2012); are entirely market driven, their only income coming from selling the collected

segregated and often reprocessed materials; and can, thus, save local authorities around 20% or more

of what they would otherwise need to spend on waste management, representing many $ millions per

annum in large cities. Table 2 (Wilson et al 2006) presents the added value of the informal sector in

materials recovery.

The attitude of public authorities and formal waste management sector to informal recycling is often

very negative regarding it as backward, unhygienic and generally incompatible with modern waste

management systems. On the other hand it has been noted that it would be ironic to eliminate already

existing and well performing recycling systems trying to apply the waste hierarchy framework.

27 INFORMAL SECTOR AS A RECYCLING PARTNER

Table 2: Ways of extracting and adding value to recovered waste materials (Wilson et al 2006)

Collection Identification and picking of items or collecting mixed waste allows the sector to acquire the waste and turn it into a resource. Most primary materials recovered from refuse, such as paper, plastics, rags, metal, glass, and food leftovers, constitute a commodity as they all have a market price

Sorting Main process that increases the value of the waste recovered. The deeper the sorting differentiation, the higher the value of waste. For instance, if plastic is grouped into one major category, its value is lower than when it is further separated into sub-categories of hard and soft, then HDPE, PET, LDPE, etc. Sorting according to color, size, shape and potential use or re-use of the materials so as to meet the end-users quality specifications

Accumulation of volume

Additional volume adds value: larger volumes command higher per-unit prices. The greater the quantity, the better bargaining power the trader has. For small quantities, transactions costs, such as checking quality, arranging transport and paying the seller, reduce the profit margin. Industrial feedstock is massive in volume. It follows that storage space is required

Pre-processing For instance: washing, changing in shape-cutting, granulating, compacting, baling

Small manufacturing craftsmanship

Creation of micro-enterprises that use the special skills of informal recyclers to transform recyclates into articles traded directly to the community and being affordable by the poor

Market intelligence

Proximity to markets where informal recyclers and traders conduct business allows for the flow of information which allows decisions to be made on accurate market prices, competitors, trading partners, etc

Trading In informal or formal markets. Links to the secondary materials network are crucial. Traders should be financially capable to add and conserve value of recyclates. Difference between buying and selling should also provide buffer against risk

The story of Cairo (Fahmi 2010) is an emblematic one regarding the failures to modernize waste

management and it has failed just because the actual role and contribution of informal sector was

completely underestimated or ignored both in collection and recycling activities. As it has been

mentioned for Cairo (Iskadar 2009) “Traditional waste management systems are embedded in realities

which are too complex for official, conventional systems to understand. They are socially constructed

and thus also difficult for engineers to understand… (Informal systems) are market based and derive

from knowledge and information about popular market and trading systems…They achieve the highest

recycling rates and generate employment for significantly higher numbers of people than official

systems do…The question posed to waste manager of cities therefore should be: how can we give these

people …their rightful place in a more efficient system to serve the city, the economy of the poor and

the environment?”

However, persistent factual and perceived issues with the activities of the informal sector (such as

occupational and public health and safety, child labour, uncontrolled pollutant flows, untaxed activities,

association with crime and political collusion, incompatible with the image of a modern city) result in

poor inclusion/integration into official systems, despite the long-standing efforts of external support

organizations, such as international donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

There is a major opportunity for win-win solutions – building recycling rates, protecting and developing

people’s livelihoods, addressing the negative aspects of current informal recycling on health and the

environment, and reducing costs to the city of managing its wastes – if the informal sector can be

included more successfully within an integrated and sustainable waste management system.

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The ISWA Task Force on Globalization and Waste Management has been working towards preparing

guidelines on how best to promote the inclusion/integration of the informal sector within a city’s waste

management system. To provide a sound basis for such guidance, a novel framework for classifying and

analyzing, along with a tool for rapidly evaluating and visualizing possible interventions to promote

inclusion and integration of ISR in a city’s solid waste management system. This aims to be a

comprehensive, integrated, and structured systems approach, for the first time drawing from and

bringing together all aspects of the phenomenon into a practically applicable tool, designed to maximize

chances of success and deliver benefits to all stakeholders.

Figure 12 summarizes the overall analytical framework and typology of the Intera tool and depicts its

interdependencies, in the form of a Venn diagram. The three interfaces (Solid waste management

interface, Social interface, Materials’ value chain interface) are shown as 3 intersecting “sets”, each

sitting on the “background” of the organizational aspects which are considered the major structural

component of any intervention related to informal sector.

Figure 12: Overall analytical framework and typology of interventions, showing the interdependencies (Velis et al 2012)

29 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MEGACITIES

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MEGACITIES Megacities are a product of the continuous urbanization process. A megacity is usually defined as a

metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. Megacities can be distinguished

from global cities by their rapid growth, new forms of spatial population density, and both formal and

informal economy, as well as poverty, crime, and high levels of social fragmentation. A megacity can be

a single metropolitan area, or two, or more metropolitan areas that converge.

The number of megacities is increasing worldwide: 1950: 2, 1975: 4, 2003: 21. By 2015, there will be 33

mega-cities, 27 of them in the developing world. Two third of them are situated in developing countries,

especially in South-East-Asia. In 2003 already 283 million people lived in megacities, 207 million of them

in developing countries, more than 171 million in Asia.

Megacities population is estimated to increase by 280.000 people per day. In the year 2015 the total

population of megacities worldwide will be about 359 million and the future rate of growth will be high.

Their population tripled between 1975 and 2003.

Megacities face tremendous environmental challenges and threats for human health. Regardless of the

context, managing solid waste is one of biggest challenges of the urban areas of all sizes, from mega-

cities to the small towns and large villages, which are home to the majority of humankind. It is almost

always in the top five of the most challenging problems for city managers. It is somewhat strange that it

receives so little attention compared to other urban management issues. The quality of waste

management services is a good indicator of a city’s governance. The way in which waste is produced,

and discarded, gives us a key insight into how people live.

A milestone of the recent literature is the UN HABITAT book “Solid Waste Management in the World’s

Cities” which has been awarded with ISWA’s publication award 2010 (Scheinberg et al 2010). The

analysis of 20 reference cities which are presented in more details resulted in three major conclusions.

First, there is no “one size fits all” solution. Second, any successful solution must address both the

physical elements (Hardware) and the governance issues (Software) of the Integrated Sustainable Waste

management approach (Anschutz et al 2004). Third, a reliable approach, has to start from existing

strengths of the city and built upon them; to involve all the stakeholders to design their own models;

and to “pick and mix” adopting and adapting the solutions that will work in any particular situation.

A very frequent problem is the collection of information regarding the actors involved in the waste

management system, and how the material and resource flow in a megacity is a great challenge in any

large urban centre in developing countries, because of the complexity of the system. Furthermore, the

difficulty of the task is compounded by the fact that a large part of the waste and resources are

managed and recovered informally, or at the interface, between the informal and formal sectors.

Another useful view is the view of urban metabolism (Brunner, 2007, 2010). As it has been mentioned

“…with megacities having a population exceeding 10 million inhabitants, and a material turnover of

more than 200 tons per capita and year, the question arises if such intense metabolic systems are

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacity#cite_note-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_area

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limited by the availability of sinks in water, air and soil. The focus lies not on the traditional issues of

waste and wastewater treatment or air and soil pollution control. The centre of attention is an integral

assessment of entire substance flows form a city over time…” (Brunner 2010). According this, the need

for final sinks has been demonstrated as a key-concept for waste management in megacities.

The different challenges for waste management in emerging- transition megacities and the mature ones

(differences in growth rates and in their stage of economic and social development) are presented in

Table 3.

Table 3: Challenges in waste management in emerging – transition megacities and mature ones (Mavropoulos 2010)

Characteristics Emerging – Transitional Megacities Mature Megacities

Growth Faster economic and population growth Younger populations Spatial growth cannot be predicted Waste quantities will increase for many years More organic fraction is expected Land is almost not available

Stabilized economic and limited population growth Aged populations Decline of traditional city centres Suburban spatial growth Waste quantities might be reduced Land has been occupied by current infrastructure

Poverty Extended slams Restricted access to big areas Collection coverage between 10-70% Informal sector involved in waste management Health risks are still serious

Slams are more controlled and limited Waste management is organized and delivered in certain patterns Collection coverage goes up to 100% Environmental protection and aesthetics are important

Governance Lack of information for planning – almost impossible to get it Multiple authorities with similar responsibilities Infrastructure delivery and increasing capacity is a key-issue Financial cost will be substantially increased as waste management services will be better

There are plans in place Waste management authorities with more clear responsibilities and limited overlaps Infrastructure maintenance and upgrade is a key-issue Financial cost is already relatively high and efforts are made to reduce it

Globalization Global nodes Global Risk areas Waste trafficking problems

Global nodes Recyclables exported to emerging – transitional megacities

Other major differences between industrialized and developing countries and cities have been

mentioned, including availability of capital and labour, physical characteristics of cities, informal sector

participation to waste management activities and waste composition.

Waste composition is of special importance for any effort to resolve the waste management problem in

emerging and transitional megacities. It has been mentioned (Wilson et al 2012) that “…the high organic

content in medium- and low-income cities generally means very dense waste, high moisture content

and reduced heating values, as opposed to relatively light waste with low organic content in the high-

income or European countries. These differences alone are enough to raise a fundamental question, as


to whether certain technologies for modern waste management developed over the last 40 years in the

‘North’ are indeed appropriate for export to the rest of the world. Specifically, compactor trucks

designed for light ‘Northern’ waste with a high content of voluminous packaging materials are both

unnecessary and inappropriate in many developing countries. High organic content may suggest that

valorizing (recovering organic waste) should be seen as the ‘baseline’ technology rather than landfill

disposal. A combination of high organic content, and often high tropical rainfall, which increases the

moisture content even further, should advise against thermal treatment of unprocessed MSW that

would require additional fuel to support combustion”.

Although it is very difficult to find out conclusions of general importance from the different

technological systems applied in different megacities, it is substantially easier to outline conclusions

from negative experiences. Table 4 summarizes some of the most important suggestions about waste

management in megacities.

Table 4: Suggestions regarding waste management in megacities (Mavropoulos 2010, 2011c)

PROBLEM SUGGESTION

Huge waste quantities Put emphasis to waste prevention and recycling programs without ignoring the need for infrastructure delivery. Develop decentralized recycling initiatives, including the organic fraction of waste that will provide a medium to long term relief of the waste management systems.

Megacities are a patchwork of cities within the megacity and livelihoods within the cities

The overall solution for waste management will be a patchwork too, but with minimum standards that will protect health and environment

Infrastructure comes always late Develop a variety of solutions that fit different city parts – do not wait for central infrastructure delivery without developing low-cost decentralized solutions – utilize the creativity of local contractors and informal sector as much as possible

Lack of data to plan and implement Implement Strategic Waste Management Plans instead of detailed master-plans. Create a core of responsible officers and entities that will have the capacity to understand and propose suitable solutions neighbourhood by neighbourhood

Informal sector activities Integrate informal sector to waste management plans , analyzing local market dynamics and creating appropriate initiatives

Plethora of institutions involved Create metropolitan authorities to coordinate activities and try to keep legal responsibilities as clear as possible, without overlaps. Create representative waste management platforms to share the responsibilities with all the stakeholders involved.

Lack of space for infrastructure Define land uses and occupy spaces for waste management activities as soon as possible – examine possibilities for underground developments

Health risks from slams Prioritize areas of the city that are most vulnerable and require on-going monitoring and proactive intervention. Emergency response planning is required in relation with waste management activities

Figure 13 presents the overall conceptual relations and linkages that characterize the triangle

globalisation, megacities and waste management.

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Figure 13: Linkages between Globalization – Megacities & Waste Management (Mavropoulos 2011c)

It is obvious that a waste management system in any city but especially in a megacity is much more than

a local system because a. It is part of the global network of material flows b. It is highly affected by

global consumerism trends and c. it is directly influenced by global regulations and initiatives related to

waste management. On the other hand it has been mentioned (Brunner, 2010) that “While the supply of

goods to cities is mostly controlled by market systems, the disposal depends more on regulation and

technical and natural attenuation processes.” For any city this means that global and local markets

determine the input materials. Local waste management practices determine the transformation of

used materials to waste, including recycling programs that will deliver secondary materials to global and

local markets.

It seems that there is a need for a more systemic approach. Megacities, as it is well established,

represent the key-nodes of this global network. Part of the sustainability agenda seems to be en effort

for more self-reliance of cities, trying to contain waste flows, reduce energy and resource consumption

and increase local and global recycling and reuse of materials. Consequently, waste prevention is

becoming also an increasing importance trend worldwide. A major barrier comes from the complex

interactions between the hundreds stakeholders involved in a megacity waste management. Another

serious barrier comes from the lack of initiatives to integrate informal sector to waste management

activities.


As a result of those trends, it is obvious that in megacities the “Software” elements (institutional

development, social support and participation and financial sustainability) are becoming more and more

important especially for the success of recycling, reuse and waste prevention initiatives. They are highly

sensitive to the continuous change of the neighbourhoods and cities within the megacity, especially to

the poorest ones where inadequate waste management practices create serious health and

environmental risks. Clearly, the “Software” elements (institutional development, financial viability and

social inclusiveness) control the social behaviour of citizens and thus they are the most important for the

success of recycling, reuse and waste prevention programs.

All those interactions are hardly described by the traditional waste management approaches which are

based on engineering and logistics. Especially in a megacity, the overall waste management system

should be considered as “complex system”, which means a system composed of interconnected parts

that as a whole exhibit one or more properties (behaviour among the possible properties) not obvious

from the properties of the individual parts (Joslyn, 2000). Cities as a whole may be considered as

emerging entities existing near a critical point of self organization, far from equilibrium and qualitatively

different from their constituent residents and subsystems (Baynes, 2009).

Waste management systems in megacities might be better studied with the contribution of the

complexity theory and complex systems science (Mavropoulos 2011c) because the overall performance

of a megacity waste management system is the result of complex interactions between global and local

stakeholders, global and local material flows, global and local recycling markets, global and local

governance etc.

Another interesting point is the lack of global benchmarking techniques and methods. It has been

commented that (Mvulirwenande 2012) “Benchmarking of waste management services is far from a

straightforward exercise; even within a single small country with uniform regulations, level of

development, culture, governance system, and climatic conditions, as 12 years of benchmarking

experience in the Netherlands confirm”.

The use of process flow diagram (PFD) to represent a city’s solid waste and recycling system – including

both formal and informal elements and operations – is highly suggested. . As previously demonstrated

(Brunner 2007), a PFD is a relatively powerful way of presenting the system as a whole in a

comprehensive but concise way.

As a step towards a global benchmarking approach, indicators of global importance have been proposed

and analyzed in details (Wilson 2012) and they create a basis on which further development might be

delivered. The set of indicators proposed is briefly presented in Table 5.

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Table 5: Benchmarking indicators for waste management (Wilson 2012)

CRITERIA INDICATORS

WASTE MANAGEMENT DRIVERS

Public health Waste collection and sweeping coverage

Environmental control Controlled disposal

Resource management Materials recycled or recovered (valorized)

GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

User inclusivity Degree of user inclusivity

Provider inclusivity Degree of provider inclusivity

Financial sustainability Population using and paying for collection

Institutional coherence Degree of institutional coherence

Despite the serious problems of waste management in megacities, there is also the other side of them.

Megacities are also places of intensive human interaction and this creates scaled results (innovation,

growth, living standards) that otherwise will never be created. It has been proven (Bettencour 2007)

that “…cities belonging to the same urban system obey pervasive scaling relations with population size,

characterizing rates of innovation, wealth creation, patterns of consumption and human behaviour as

well as properties of urban infrastructure. Most of these indicators deal with temporal processes

associated with the social dimension of cities as spaces for intense interaction across the spectrum of

human activities. It is remarkable that it is principally in terms of these rhythms that cities are self-

similar organizations, indicating a universality of human social dynamics, despite enormous variability in

urban form”.

According Bettencour, “The tension between economies of scale and wealth creation represents a

phenomenon where innovation occurs on time scales that are now shorter than individual life spans and

are predicted to become even shorter as populations increase and become more connected, in contrast

to biology where the innovation time scales of natural selection greatly exceed individual life spans. Our

analysis suggests uniquely human social dynamics that transcend biology and redefine metaphors of

urban ‘‘metabolism.’’

35 GLOBAL RECYCLING MARKETS

GLOBAL RECYCLING MARKETS The last decades a great number of consumer products are transported worldwide in order to be sold

and used. In addition a huge amount of secondary materials has been traded due to the latest

emergence of China, as the new workshop of the World, and of other SE Asian Tiger economies. From all

waste streams trade of plastic is increasingly becoming a global issue. More than 50% of plastics, paper

and scrap ferrous metals are being exported to South East Asia and this trend is not expected to decline.

At Asia and the Pacific imports of waste are extremely high comparing to waste exports. In 2006, Korea,

Malaysia and Philippines were the main importers while Singapore and Japan were considered to be the

biggest exporter in the region. In 2010 China imported more than 7.4 million tonnes of plastics waste

and around 28 million tonnes of waste paper and over 5.8 million tonnes of steel scrap. Apparently, the

EU is increasingly acting like a single market in terms of hazardous and problematic waste treatment. In

2005 nearly 20% of the waste shipped was for disposal while the remaining 80% was shipped for

recovery operations.

Figure 14: Generation & Transboundary Movement of Waste in Asia and the Pacific (Visvanathan, 2012)

At present, the establishing global market seems to act in parallel to waste trafficking and therefore any

action to control waste trafficking might act as an inhibitor for the global recycling market.

Waste trade of specific stream has been significantly affected by waste shipment regulations and market

forces. In general there are a number of factors which influencing global network of raw materials and

recyclables flows. These factors are divided in two main categories the supply and demand factors as

being presented in Figure 15.

in t

ho

usa

nd

to

nn

es

ISWA 2012


It is characteristic that up until the mid-1900s most countries around the world maintained

protectionists trade policies due to the belief that imports were threats to domestic industries and

should be kept out (supply driven approach). However this has changed and from the mid 1900s since

present development paradigm switched to focus on promoting trade liberalization as the means by

which competitiveness can be enhance and efficiency gains can be generated for the benefit of

consumers (demand-driven approach). Export-led economic growth has since become the major tenant

of most national development strategy since it is strongly believed that trade is the way to benefit from

globalization and to achieve economic growth.

Figure 15: Factors influencing Global Recycling Market (D-Waste, 2012b)

However, in most developing countries recycling and recovery activities are carried out through low-end

means such as crude backyard recycling with comparatively low yields. Such handling often causes

serious harm to the environment, human health as well as to society and the economy.


As a prime example, the majority of electrical and electronic waste (ee-waste) exported to China is

processed and treated in backyards or small, primitive workshops (Liu et al, 2006). Processing often

includes methods such as manual disassembly, cyanide leaching and uncontrolled open burning for the

purpose of extracting the valuable metals from the ee-waste. Any remains of this waste that has no

value are usually dumped (Nnorom et al, 2007). This handling results in serious pollution, since the

substances in question are, for example: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polyhydrochlorinated

biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as well as heavy metals (such as mercury,

lead and zinc). Similar handling of ee-waste has also been reported to take place in other Asian countries

such as India and Pakistan (BAN, 2002) as well as in West African countries such as Nigeria (BAN, 2005).

This type of handling endangers the health of the recyclers and residents living near the sites.

Furthermore, the improper handling also causes harm to humans living further away from the sites and

the environment through contamination of soil, water and ecosystems. In addition to the imminent

threats to the environment and human health noted above, poor management of waste, especially the

use of ineffective methods for recycling and recovery means poor resource management and loss of

valuable resources that undoubtedly will contribute to the depletion of our planets’ natural resources.

Furthermore, exporting waste for unsound and unacceptable treatment abroad instead of complying

with the regulations creates an uneven playing field that impairs sound market mechanisms (Comte,

2006). This gives irresponsible waste producers and dubious waste processors an unfair economic

advantage over soundly based and environmentally conscientious waste producers and waste

managers. The skewed market mechanisms are very likely to delay or hinder the establishment of

facilities and infrastructure needed for proper solid waste management throughout the world.

In order to prevent the unwanted effects to the environment, human health and society as described

above, legislation has been implemented at an international as well as on regional and national levels.

On an international level, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (EU, 1993) and the OECD Council Decision on the Control of

Transfrontier Movements of Waste Destined for Recovery Operations regulate trans-boundary

movements of waste (OECD, 1992). Export of waste from the European Union is regulated by the

Regulation on the Supervision and Control of Shipments of Waste within, into and out of the European

Community (259/93/EEC), often referred to as the “European Waste Shipments Regulation” and in the

United States, regulations regarding import and export of hazardous waste can be found in the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act.

Despite the regulations in place, large amounts of waste are unlawfully exported to transition and

developing countries, such as China, other Asian and West African countries (Nnorom et al, 2007;

Terazono et al, 2004). The illegal trade in waste is estimated at a value of between US$ 10 and $ 12

billion annually and generates very high revenues to the criminal actors involved in the trade (Comte,

2006). A report from IMPEL (the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of

Environmental Law) suggest that as much as 85% of the non-hazardous waste exported from the

European Union is shipped illegally or in non-compliance with regulations. Irregularities include among

ISWA 2012


others: the use of incorrect classification, false classification of waste products or unchecked items as re-

usable products and other kinds of fraudulent shipment declarations (IMPEL, 2005). Furthermore,

Greenpeace (2010) reports that between 1988 and 1994, 94 attempted or actual cases of illegal export

of altogether 10 million tons of hazardous waste residues were identified and Massari and Monzini

(2004) report illegal export of hazardous waste from Italy to Romania, the Black Sea region, Lebanon and

several African countries, such as Somalia and Mozambique. Finally, during the Sky Hole Patching

project carried out in the Asia-Pacific region from March 2007 until September2009, 260 seizures on

hazardous waste was recorded (Visvanathan, 2012).

Naturally, there are cases where waste producers or waste transporters break the law unintentionally,

for example by producing incorrect transport documents or misinterpreting existing law. Some of these

misunderstandings and errors might be explained by the complexity of the present laws and regulations

(O’Keefe and Hall, 2000), but even so a large fraction of the illegal exports of waste is suspected to be

the result of consciously and continuously committed illegal action.

Reports from IMPEL such as Seaport Project (IMPEL, 2006) and the Threat Assessment Project (IMPEL,

2005) point out barriers for effective enforcement of the regulations. Most enforcement activities today

are reactive in nature and rely on the cooperation between environmental agencies, customs and police

networks in a number of countries. Such cooperation still seems to be partly restrained by lack of

priority, interest or capacity within some of the organizations. Furthermore, effective collection, use and

exchange of information and intelligence are found to be essential for better and more effective

enforcement. Delivering the intelligence material needed constitutes a large challenge since it demands

transnational and cross-organizational cooperation. Altogether, a large number of actors with most

probably different views of an intelligence organization, the use of intelligence material, secrecy and

other issues related to intelligence and intelligence organizations have to be involved. Furthermore

IMPEL (2006) identifies the lack of proper coordination and allocation of resources between different

national authorities as one of the main bottlenecks for effective and efficient enforcement of the

regulations on transfrontier shipments of waste.

The issue of illegal international traffic of waste is of considerable complexity including in relation to

defining the illegality of such traffic. The lack of appropriate data and the difficulty to define waste

trafficking is a major problem and a number of financial and monetary values need to be considered

(Terazono et al, 2004; Comte, 2006 IMPEL, 2006; SAICW, 2010).

The basic mechanism to control transnational movement, the Basel Convention, is 20 years old. At the

time it was amended, the basic problem was the movement of chemical waste, while today the main

problem is ee-waste. Nnorom et al (2007) points out that the possibility to import of second-hand

electronics makes such devices available to those who cannot afford new products. However, due to the

difficulty in distinguish second-hand products from ee-waste and since many developing countries may

not easily acquire the know-how needed for environmentally sound material recovery from ee-waste,

the trade in second-hand electronics should be strictly restricted to products with confirmed

functionality. Therefore, an international method for of testing and certification is needed to ensure that


that exported secondhand devices are functional. The current guidance for regulatory authorities in the

EU for Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment (UEEE), stating that the exported devices have to be

fully functional and properly packaged in shipping containers not to be be regarded as ee-waste and that

repairable items only can be exported if there are no hazardous components to be dealt with (Cooper,

2012), might provide a ground-stone for such a method.

As pointed out by Nnorom et al (2007), the establishment of formal recycling facilities for ee-waste in

the developing countries will ensure resource utilization with both economical and ecological gains.

Although a vast majority of all waste producers are believed to act in good faith, they face complexity in

determining what should be the most appropriate means of meeting their obligations. Therefore,

criminals and criminal organizations are able to take advantage of this complexity and producers’ lack of

knowledge or lack of care. In addition, the complexity of the present legislation and regulations, as well

as complicated administrative environmental and customs procedures, might lead to unintentional

illegal waste handling and export of waste. In this sense it is of great importance to enable waste

producers by making it easier to do right is an important step in reducing the amount of waste illegally

exported. Initiatives supporting this strategy are (ISWA, 2010b):

Awareness raising, information and communication about the problems related to waste

trafficking and improper handling in the receiving countries as well as information about the

criminal structures involved in and criminal methods used for waste trafficking

Making information and counselling on the rules and regulations related to proper waste

handling in general and trans-boundary shipments of waste in particular easily accessible to

waste producers

Simplifying the administration related to trans-boundary waste shipments and, if possible,

making the different regulations in place more clear, understandable and co-ordinated

Providing means for waste producers to more easily able to identify and get in contact with

serious, law-abiding waste brokers and handlers, for example through a waste brokers’

certification or accreditation system.

ISWA 2012


INTERNATIONAL AID TOOLS This specific work stream is still under elaboration. However there are some outcomes to be presented.

Using the OECD database for the Official Development Assistance (ODA) (available at

http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=ODA_SECTOR), a more or less clear picture can be

formulated regarding the evolution of waste management related ODA.

Overall, according OECD’s database ODA increased by 25% between 2006 and 2010, reaching almost

164 billion $ in 2010. Straightforward waste management projects (code 14050: Waste

management/disposal) count between 0,16-0,32% of the total ODA, ranging between 257-415 million

$/year between 2006-2010.

Although waste management ODA projects are certainly not limited at the field “14050: Waste

management/disposal” and several (but not many) projects are included in other codes like “41010:

Environmental policy and admin. Management” or under the generic code “140: I.4. Water Supply &

Sanitation, Total”, it seems that there is a declining trend in the relevant importance of waste

management projects within the ODA financial flows. Figure 14 presents the trends in major ODA

sectors that are related to waste management. The figures per category are percentages in the overall

ODA.

Figure 16: Trends in major ODA sectors related with waste management as % of the overall ODA. Straightforward waste management projects are included in code 140:I.4 Water Supply & Sanitation

It is obvious that General Environment protection is almost doubled as percentage of the total ODA

between 2006 -2010 while Health and Water are more or less at the same levels.

0,00%

1,00%

2,00%

3,00%

4,00%

5,00%

6,00%

7,00%

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

% of ODA in different sectors

120: I.2. Health, Total

410: IV.1. General Environment Protection, Total

140: I.4. Water Supply & Sanitation, Total

41 INTERNATIONAL AID TOOLS

Waste management share in the total Water Supply & Sanitation (code 140:I.4) is presented at Figure 17

and Figure 18 the overall changes in different ODA sectors between 2006-2010.

Figure 17: Waste management projects share in total Water Supply & Sanitation ODA

Figure 18: Changes in different ODA sectors 2006-2010

All the data mentioned above outline two conclusions. First, waste management remains a very small

part of the overall ODA, less than 0.5% which is a disappointing sign for the importance of waste

management in global decision making and especially in ODA. Second, although the overall ODA is

steadily increasing (despite the 2008-2009 crisis), waste management is marginally increased just about

almost 5%. This second remark is definitely linked with the fact that the successful preparation and

4,07%

6,32%

2,06%

2,95% 3,47%

0,00%

1,00%

2,00%

3,00%

4,00%

5,00%

6,00%

7,00%

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

% of Waste management in total Water ODA

504,57%

180,44% 131,05%

25,12% 23,10% 22,83% 4,86% 0,00%

100,00%

200,00%

300,00%

400,00%

500,00%

600,00%

% Change in global ODA 2006-2010

ISWA 2012


implementation of a serious waste management project is definitely much more difficult and time

consuming than other ODA sectors’ projects.

Regarding the lessons learnt by ODA waste management projects, it has been mentioned (Park 2011)

that waste management projects are welcomed thanks to increased awareness, but their relative

priority is not high enough to be fully supported by the recipient governments and societies. The

necessity for more emphasis on the creation of waste management systems rather than facilities is

another key-issue.

According the Japanese ODA (Kitawaki 2011), one of the most important worldwide, they have faced a

lot of difficulties to leave "ruins of foreign aid", which are negative legacies of inappropriate technology

transfer. For example, many fully mechanized treatment facilities have been abandoned due to high

operation and maintenance cost, which are known as "white elephants". With this concern, Japan's ODA

is not keen to construct treatment facilities, with exceptions discussed only under specific conditions.

In the same line of thinking, it has been mentioned (Medina 2000) that conventional technological

approaches to waste management are not working in emerging and transitional megacities because

they involve imported solutions that are centralized, bureaucratic and suitable for different socio-

economic conditions and so the possibility of decentralized models must be examined. In most of the

cases those conventional solutions are promoted (Scheinberg 2010) by international donors and aid

programs in an effort to export “Western type” technologies. A usual way of such a promotion is the

adaptation of certain environmental and technical standards as a condition for funding.

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