The latest approaches in ISWM

To conclude this chapter, it seems relevant to look into the future visions for the WM field. Along the history, waste systems have evolved from “waste disposal thinking” (the throw-away & hide-from-sight-thinking) to a “waste management thinking”, where the waste entering to the system was collected, sorted, treated, recycled or reused in more efficient way before ‘safe’ final disposal. Now experts in the field invite waste managers to move from that thinking to ‘resource management thinking’, in which is imperative to recognize the waste as a resource in order to recover its full economic value along the supply chain, and help as well, to minimize the use of the now scarce raw/virgin materials (Wilson et al., 2015).

The earlier thinking in the field had always recognize the waste since the very moment an item is discarded. However, the current thinking focuses in what happens before that, and how to address the waste-problems from its source.

With this in mind, experts begun to pay special attention to the origin of the materials before becoming waste, so it became compulsory to figure out for instance, under what kind of conditions the item was refused?, or how can it be avoided?; and if cannot be avoided so, is it recoverable or can be recycled? and how should it be done?; or if it is hazardous, can it be produced with less hazardous substances?, answers to questions like these are currently just scratching the surface, but are expected to give a new important turn to the waste field. That way of thinking is known in modern literature as ‘waste and resource management’ in the framework of a ‘circular economy’(Wilson et al., 2015).

Originally, economy has been a linear path of taking (natural resources), making (products and services) and discarding (waste), which has lead us to resource scarcity and environmental degradation. The concept of ‘circular economy’ aims to close the loop by optimizing the resource use along the whole ‘value circle’, the main principles to close the loop are: (1) Preserving and controlling the finite stocks and renewable resources. (2) Recirculating materials within the supply chain. (3) Assuring longer useful-life-time to the products by repairing, sharing, refurbishing and recycling. Lastly, (4) providing an environmentally sound waste management system with emphasis in the 4R’s(D. Wilson et al., 2015, pp.

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23-24). The figure 9, presents the complete diagram of a circular economy system (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2016).

The term of ‘circular economy’ in waste management, refers strongly to waste prevention and resource recovery in the frame of Sustainable Production and Consumption (SPC). The SPC frame seeks to improve the way goods are designed, manufactured, packed, transported, marketed and consumed, in order to assure a conscious and effective use of resources while taking into consideration the sustainability pillars(D. Wilson et al., 2015). In this matter, the role of waste management and its governance should be to promote the use of strategic systems in which, industry can contribute and commit to tackle the waste-related problems, by taking responsibility for end of the product’s end-of-life. This indeed bring us to the concept of ‘producer responsibility’ that has become an important topic for an extended discussion in many economic sectors in developed countries.

Another powerful phenomenon in waste management theory, besides the adoption of circular economy and resource management, is the usage of a life-cycle assessment (LCA). This approach includes a detailed overview from ‘cradle’

to ‘grave’ of the materials and products, which covers the whole process since the raw material extraction for manufacturing, all the way until the product’s disposal. LCA clearly provides a complete assessment tool to move towards a circular economy and certainly, promises to be very beneficial for the waste field, because helps to analyze the materials flow (inputs and outputs) and their impact on the environment.

Figure 11. Outline of a circular economy.

Adapted from: (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2016. "Circular Economy System Diagram"

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Even though, all this approaches are very valid and beneficial, not all the countries are prepared for working towards such ambitious goals. Countries with a highly developed waste management systems (e.g. Netherlands, Japan, Nordic Countries, etc.) are indeed leading the north towards all those important concepts. However, many countries (especially developing countries) are hold back due to the premature status of their waste management systems and policies.

By 2015, low and middle-income countries are still adopting the waste-management-thinking, despite all their efforts, there are still major challenges to guarantee a total coverage of the waste collection service, and to implement safe final disposal techniques to assure a complete removal of open burning and indiscriminate dumping in land and water bodies. Municipalities and regulators should act fast and efficiently to tackle those problems as soon as possible.

Forecasts points out that, waste volumes will double in developing countries in less than 20 years from now due to economic development and/or population growth. In one hand, some countries are expected to have an economic evolution, which will be reflected in an increase of the income per capita and consequently in higher consumption of goods. On the other hand, some other countries (mainly low-income countries) will have a dramatic increase in population, in only 20 years from now the population is expected to double. For all those reasons, the priority of developing countries is to keep the hard work building up an integrated waste system with innovative policies and practices to assure waste prevention from now on (Wilson et al., 2015).

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