Dr Luis Diaz, in his keynote address to the delegates at WasteCon 2012, said that rapid urbanisation is a challenge to efficient waste management. In 2011, the urban population across the globe was around 3.6 billion people while the rural population was 3.4 billion. This figure will jump to 6.25 billion people living in cities in 2050 and only 3.05 billion in rural areas of the world. Currently, 800 million people live in slums and in the next 15 years, 600 million jobs will be needed in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
This creates a great challenge to sustainability and waste management because as affluence grows so does the demand for products and a subsequent increase in consumption follows. If the emphasis is on waste diversion from landfills, and this is a global trend, how are we to manage solid waste? Climate change, lack of safe water supply, improper waste management and inadequate sanitation are becoming global challenges in the sustainable management of municipal waste. “We do not have sufficient knowledge of the science associated with solid waste management and we need to increase the veracity of our reporting of results,” Diaz said.“Cities cover 2% of the earth’s land surface but consume 60 – 80% of energy, create 75% of emissions, contribute 70% of the global GDP and consume 70% of the world’s resources. Hence, urbanisation will become the greatest challenge for waste management and its sustainable utilisation. Urban families consume vast amounts of food and that food is in packaging. In contrast, rural families consume less and the food is locally produced and sourced, and consequently, not packaged. What happened to waste minimisation?”
*Dr Luis Diaz has been involved with waste management for 40 years, working across the globe in more than 45 countries, both developed and developing. He has authored more than 450 publications and co-authored several books. He is also on the Task Force on Solid Waste Management under the umbrella of the International Waste Working Group.