As garbage piles up, however much space we set aside for landfill, we are beginning to realise that producing waste at this rate is no longer viable. It is time for the three “Rs”: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and integrated waste management. Waste management strategies are as diverse as waste itself. But whatever we do there is no escaping the “waste of waste” (unless we rein in our greed and buy less).

The maps illustrate the crazy logic of today’s global trade. Exchange is no longer based on local needs or resource availability (in most countries where large amounts of bottled water are consumed, the tap water is perfectly drinkable), with unnecessary exchange involving major importers that are also major exporters (France, Germany and Belgium).

At the entrance to the plant, which covers more than 15 hectares, a sign announces:“Compost, bark and wood shavings for sale”. Other waste is separated, packed and redirected to logistics centres elsewhere in Norway and Sweden. Jens Christian Fjelldal, the head of the plant, explains that they sell a range of more than 200 recycled materials to buyers in Europe and even South America and Asia. The recycling activity pays its way, enabling the t...

In the 1980s severe hygienic problems plagued parts of Curitiba where housing development was uncontrolled. The winding streets were too narrow for council trucks and waste rotting in the open caused disease. In 1989 the council decided to act. It sent environmental education teams into affected areas where they joined forces with neighbourhood associations to organise waste collection by local people.

The manufacture of packaging itself generates waste and by defi nition it has a particularly short lifespan. It turns into waste as soon as its contents reaches its destination. This is certainly a blessing for the packaging sector – and the related plastics, paper and printing industries – but it presents a serious challenge for waste management.

The goods we accumulate today will pile up as waste tomorrow, and more yet in view of the global trends. Projections tell us that there will be 9 000 million people on Earth by 2050. According to the Global Footprint Network life on Earth would not even be sustainable for 2 000 million people consuming at the same rate as in the richest countries today.

The Soviet Union used the Ferghana Valley as one of its main sources of metal and uranium ore. The area has many nuclear waste storage sites, abandoned uranium mines with poorly secured tailing dams and nuclear reactors that pose a severe security hazard. Tailings are exposed to wind erosion and easily accessible to grazing animals.

Industry is the top producer of waste in developed countries. A large proportion of industrial waste is hazardous, because industrial processes often involve chemicals. Cleaner production – reducing the amount of problematic components in a product and additives used in the production process – waste avoidance and a life cycle approach to waste management are attempts in the right direction.

A growing share of municipal waste contains electronic or electric products. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams and makes up approximately 4 per cent of municipal waste in the European Union. In the US, between 14 and 20 million PC’s become obsolete every year. The picture is similar all over the world and e-waste is increasing steadily.

According to current forecasts the world’s energy requirements will have risen by more than 50 per cent by 2030. Oil and natural gas will account for more than 60 per cent of the increase. During the same time period renewable energy growth is lower.

The squares are proportionnal to the estimated amounts of waste generated by sector in 2002, in the OECD countries (in million tonnes). Waste is produced from the very beginning of the life cycle of a product, long before we as consumers are aware of it.

The priority is to decrease the amount of waste we generate. Only then should we will be proud of the high rates for recycling some countries report (see examples for glass and paper). Glass recycling scores best, perhaps because an old habit has never been lost. Many countries still have a deposit on glass bottles (Scandinavia) or have even expanded it (Germany).

The rich world consumes more and thus produces more waste. The World Bank classification based on gross national income per capita is an indication of the global consumption level. Over the last two decades the world as a whole did not get any richer but China and Indonesia, two densely populated countries, entered the 'middle income world', as defined by the World Bank. Consumer items are available to a growing number of individuals, particular...

At the end of their service life airliners may prove useful in many ways. They often fly as freighters for several years. When finally grounded they are scavenged for spare parts for other aircrafts, or used for training aircrews and firefighters. Sometimes sheet metal is cut off and melted down.

Reusing and recycling are natural survival strategies for many people in the developing world. In rich countries we abandoned the habit and are now relearning how to reuse and recycle. Public rubbish collection and a well established recycling industry do a big part of the job for us.

In Europe the manufacturing sector produces large amounts of hazardous waste. This graphic shows the ratio between the manufacturing sector and all other sectors in selected European countries from 2002 figures.

More than three-quarters of nuclear reactors currently in service are more than 20 years old. After an average service life of 30 years it takes 20 more years to dismantle them. The spent fuel figures for 2002 are national projections. Quantities fluctuated strongly in the United Kingdom, partly due to variations in electricity output from nuclear power. Decommissioning of several older power stations explains the peaks.

The marketing and advertising industry is constantly teasing us with trendy, cool and largely superfluous products. To judge by investment in advertising, it takes more and more to achieve the same effect. With all that stimulation it is an effort asking just what we stand to gain.

In 1999, the British consultant BioRegional thought up an innovative way of dealing with waste paper. Surely offices could sort their own paper and, after local reprocessing, reuse it? Local Paper for London now recycles more than 2000 tonnes of paper a year, cutting the paper bill by 20 per cent for 400 organisations (schools, government bodies, firms, etc.) taking part in the scheme.

PRTRs (Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers) are databases of chemical releases to air, land and water from factories or other sources. Targeting a broad public audience, they support our right to information on toxic waste and air pollution. The Australian National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), for instance, not only provides the public with free access to data on its website but also helps facilities estimate and report emissions.