(ISWM),18 which explicitly brings together all three dimensions, is gradually becoming the norm in discussion of solid waste management in developing countries. In the GWMO, the primary analytical framework used is a simplified form of ISWM, first developed for UN-Habitat’s Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities (2010). This is shown schematically in Figure 2.3 as two overlapping ‘triangles’. The first triangle in Figure 2.3 comprises the three primary physical components (elements), each linked to one of the key drivers identified in Figure 2.2. These provide the necessary infrastructure for solid waste management: 1. Waste collection: driven primarily by public health; 2. Waste treatment and disposal: driven primarily by environmental protection; and 3. The 3Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle: driven by the resource value of the waste and more recently by ‘closing the loop’ in order to return both materials and nutrients to beneficial use. The second triangle focuses on the ‘softer’ aspects of ISWM – the governance strategies: 4. Inclusivity of stakeholders: focusing in particular on service users and service providers; 5. Financial sustainability: requiring the system to be cost-effective, affordable and well financed; and 6. Sound institutions and proactive policies: including both the national policy framework and local institutions. An integrated and sustainable waste managment system must address all technical (infrastructure) and governance aspects to allow a well-functioning system that works sustainably over the long term. As previous publications have tended to have a more technical focus, the GWMO has chosen to focus primarily on issues of governance and finance.
Figure 2.3 The integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) framework used in the GWMO
1. Public health – collection
➜
W: Waste related data
2. Environment – Treatment and disposal
6. Sound institutions & pro-active policies
Physical
Governance
4. Inclusivity – User and provider
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3. Resource value – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3Rs)
5. Financial – Sustainability
B:Background information Notes: This is a simplified version of the original ISWM concept and was first devised for UN-Habitat.19 The numbers and letters in this version of the Figure20 cross-refer to the ‘Wasteaware’ benchmark indicator set, which is built around this framework and introduced in Section 2.5.3 below.
2.4.2 Life-cycle analysis (LCA) and other assessment tools Traditional ‘end-of-pipe’ waste management focuses on just one segment of the life-cycle of materials and products, namely, after the point of discard. In contrast, the GWMO takes into account the wider issues of waste and resource management across the product life-cycle. Life-Cycle Thinking (LCT) is a well-established concept which aims to provide a holistic view of all the environmental, social and economic impacts that could 18 19 20
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ISWM was first developed in the 1990s by the Dutch NGO WASTE and the Collaborative Working Group on Solid Waste Management in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (known as CWG). See Annex A, Chapter 2, Integrated sustainable waste management. See Scheinberg, Wilson, Rodic (2010) in Annex A, Chapter 1, Waste management. Wilson et al. (2013).
Global Waste Management Outlook