Municipal waste is everything collected and treated by municipalities. Only part of it is comes from households, the rest is generated by small businesses, commercial and other municipal activities. So it is produced from both consumption and production processes. Like all waste, municipal waste is on the rise and it is growing faster than the population, a natural result of our increasing consumption rate and the shortening of product life-spans...

The amount and composition of municipal waste depends on a variety of factors. It is related to our living standard but wealth does not explain everything. It is also correlated with levels of urbanization, energy choices, waste management strategies and the “good” or “bad” habits of consumers. Although our garbage bins represent only a small part of the total waste generated, it is an important part: the one in which everyone can take action. Th...

The disposal and treatment of waste can produce emissions of several greenhouse gases (GHGs), which contribute to global climate change. The most significant GHG gas produced from waste is methane. It is released during the breakdown of organic matter in landfills. Other forms of waste disposal also produce GHGs but these are mainly in the form of carbon dioxide (a less powerful GHG). Even the recycling of waste produces some emissions (although ...

According to various scenarios, the economic development (presented in this graphic as Gross Domestic Product, GDP) will most likely continue for the next decades – but at a slower pace for those countries that can afford advanced waste management strategies. As 1.3 billion Chinese thunder into the great pleasures of consumption, municipal waste is certainly a major environmental concern.

Global International Waters Assessment's (GIWA) assessment tools for monitoring the world's water resources, incorporating five major environmental concerns and application of the DPSIR framework (driving forces-pressure-state-impact-response), are now beginning to yield results of practical use for management decisions. This graphic explains the GIWA Assessment Methodology and GIWA's five main environmental concerns, which are: freshwater shorta...

Map, illustrating the communites, cities and sites from where the stories for the 'Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management' project has been collected and are refered to in the stories. Please see the project web-site for more information.

Map, illustrating the communites, cities and sites from where the stories for the 'Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management' project has been collected and are refered to in the stories. Please see the project web-site for more information.

With poverty and high population density this group of volcanic islands between Eastern Africa and Madagascar faces challenges in the management of the coastal environment. The islands are fringed by magnificent coral reefs, and the waters houses the rare coelacanth fish. Among the responses there have been initiatives to encourage ecotourism and the support in establishing the 400 km2 Mohéli Marine Park.

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.

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.

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.

Mining waste takes up a great deal of space, blights the landscape and often affects local habitats. By its very nature it can constitute a serious safety hazard. Poor management may allow acidic and metals containing drainage to the environmnent, it can result in contaminated dusts be spread by the wind, and can also pose a physical risk. Indeed, the failure of structures such as dams built to contain mining waste has lead to many accidental sp...

Not long ago the amount and composition of waste was such that it could be simply diluted and dispersed into the environment. Most items were reused and only a few remained, that would not decompose naturally. With industrialisation and rising urban density, a new concept followed: collect and dump out of sight. The aim was to eliminate waste or at least protect the population from it. This generally involved either openly burning it (still pract...

A visual timeline of historical waste manaement. From the first recorded landfill created in Knossos in 3000 B.C. to the English parliament banning waste disposal in public waterways and ditches in 1388 to the establishment of The Basel Convention in 1992.

The plant is designed to restrict waste movement and environmental damage. Strict safety regulations govern storage of hazardous waste (chemicals, asbestos, varnish, oil, etc.). Such waste is not moved until it is destroyed on the spot or redirected to specialist plants elsewhere. All the other waste is separated by the consumers themselves and dumped into skips.

Curitiba has become world-famous for its original approach to basic municipal problems thanks to a unique mixture of innovative town planning, determined political leadership and good public relations.

Map, illustrating the communites, cities and sites from where the stories for the 'Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management' project has been collected and are refered to in the stories. Please see the project web-site for more information.

Map, illustrating the communites, cities and sites from where the stories for the 'Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management' project has been collected and are refered to in the stories. Please see the project web-site for more information.