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GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II)
13 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 21
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTES
AND SEWAGE-RELATED ISSUES
INTRODUCTION
21.1. This chapter has been incorporated in Agenda 21 in response to
General Assembly resolution 44/228, section I, paragraph 3, in which
the Assembly affirmed that the Conference should elaborate strategies
and measures to halt and reverse the effects of environmental
degradation in the context of increased national and international
efforts to promote sustainable and environmentally sound development in
all countries, and to section I, paragraph 12 (g), of the same
resolution, in which the Assembly affirmed that environmentally sound
management of wastes was among the environmental issues of major
concern in maintaining the quality of the Earth's environment and
especially in achieving environmentally sound and sustainable
development in all countries.
21.2. Programme areas included in the present chapter of Agenda 21 are
closely related to the following programme areas of other chapters of
Agenda 21:
(a) Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater
resources: application of integrated approaches to the development,
management and use of water resources (chapter 18);
(b) Promoting sustainable human settlement development (chapter
7);
(c) Protecting and promoting human health conditions
(chapter 6);
(d) Changing consumption patterns (chapter 4).
21.3. Solid wastes, as defined in this chapter, include all domestic
refuse and non-hazardous wastes such as commercial and institutional
wastes, street sweepings and construction debris. In some countries,
the solid wastes management system also handles human wastes such as
night-soil, ashes from incinerators, septic tank sludge and sludge from
sewage treatment plants. If these wastes manifest hazardous
characteristics they should be treated as hazardous wastes.
21.4. Environmentally sound waste management must go beyond the mere
safe disposal or recovery of wastes that are generated and seek to
address the root cause of the problem by attempting to change
unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. This implies the
application of the integrated life cycle management concept, which
presents a unique opportunity to reconcile development with
environmental protection.
21.5. Accordingly, the framework for requisite action should be
founded on a hierarchy of objectives and focused on the four major
waste-related programme areas, as follows:
(a) Minimizing wastes;
(b) Maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse and recycling;
(c) Promoting environmentally sound waste disposal and
treatment;
(d) Extending waste service coverage.
21.6. The four programme areas are interrelated and mutually
supportive and must therefore be integrated in order to provide a
comprehensive and environmentally responsive framework for managing
municipal solid wastes. The mix and emphasis given to each of the four
programme areas will vary according to the local socio-economic and
physical conditions, rates of waste generation and waste composition.
All sectors of society should participate in all the programme areas.
PROGRAMME AREAS
A. Minimizing wastes
Basis for action
21.7. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are
increasing the quantities and variety of environmentally persistent
wastes at unprecedented rates. The trend could significantly increase
the quantities of wastes produced by the end of the century and
increase quantities four to fivefold by the year 2025. A preventive
waste management approach focused on changes in lifestyles and in
production and consumption patterns offers the best chance for
reversing current trends.
Objectives
21.8. The objectives in this area are:
(a) To stabilize or reduce the production of wastes destined
for final disposal, over an agreed time-frame, by formulating goals
based on waste weight, volume and composition and to induce separation
to facilitate waste recycling and reuse;
(b) To strengthen procedures for assessing waste quantity and
composition changes for the purpose of formulating operational waste
minimization policies utilizing economic or other instruments to induce
beneficial modifications of production and consumption patterns.
21.9. Governments, according to their capacities and available
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other
relevant organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) By the year 2000, ensure sufficient national, regional and
international capacity to access, process and monitor waste trend
information and implement waste minimization policies;
(b) By the year 2000, have in place in all industrialized
countries programmes to stabilize or reduce, if practicable, production
of wastes destined for final disposal, including per capita wastes
(where this concept applies), at the level prevailing at that date;
developing countries as well should work towards that goal without
jeopardizing their development prospects;
(c) Apply by the year 2000, in all countries, in particular in
industrialized countries, programmes to reduce the production of
agrochemical wastes, containers and packaging materials, which do not
meet hazardous characteristics.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
21.10. Governments should initiate programmes to achieve sustained
minimization of waste generation. Non-governmental organizations and
consumer groups should be encouraged to participate in such programmes,
which could be drawn up with the cooperation of international
organizations, where necessary. These programmes should, wherever
possible, build upon existing or planned activities and should:
(a) Develop and strengthen national capacities in research and
design of environmentally sound technologies, as well as adopt measures
to reduce wastes to a minimum;
(b) Provide for incentives to reduce unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption;
(c) Develop, where necessary, national plans to minimize waste
generation as part of overall national development plans;
(d) Emphasize waste minimization considerations in procurement
within the United Nations system.
(b) Data and information
21.11. Monitoring is a key prerequisite for keeping track of changes
in waste quantity and quality and their resultant impact on health and
the environment. Governments, with the support of international
agencies, should:
(a) Develop and apply methodologies for country-level waste
monitoring;
(b) Undertake data gathering and analysis, establish national
goals and monitor progress;
(c) Utilize data to assess environmental soundness of national
waste policies as a basis for corrective action;
(d) Input information into global information systems.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
21.12. The United Nations and intergovernmental organizations, with
the collaboration of Governments, should help promote waste
minimization by facilitating greater exchange of information, know-how
and experience. The following is a non-exhaustive list of specific
activities that could be undertaken:
(a) Identifying, developing and harmonizing methodologies for
waste monitoring and transferring such methodologies to countries;
(b) Identifying and further developing the activities of
existing information networks on clean technologies and waste
minimization;
(c) Undertaking periodic assessment, collating and analysing
country data and reporting systematically, in an appropriate United
Nations forum, to the countries concerned;
(d) Reviewing the effectiveness of all waste minimization
instruments and identifying potential new instruments that could be
used and techniques by which they could be made operational at the
country level. Guidelines and codes of practice should be developed;
(e) Undertaking research on the social and economic impacts of
waste minimization at the consumer level.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
21.13. The Conference secretariat suggests that industrialized
countries should consider investing in waste minimization the
equivalent of about 1 per cent of the expenditures on solid wastes and
sewage disposal. At current levels, this would amount to about
$6.5 billion annually, including about $1.8 billion related to
minimizing municipal solid wastes. Actual amounts would be determined
by relevant municipal, provincial and national budget authorities based
on local circumstances.
(b) Scientific and technological means
21.14. Waste minimization technologies and procedures will need to be
identified and widely disseminated. This work should be coordinated by
national Governments, with the cooperation and collaboration of
non-governmental organizations, research institutions and appropriate
organizations of the United Nations, and could include the following:
(a) Undertaking a continuous review of the effectiveness of all
waste minimization instruments and identifying potential new
instruments that could be used and techniques by which instruments
could be made operational at the country level. Guidelines and codes
of practice should be developed;
(b) Promoting waste prevention and minimization as the
principal objective of national waste management programmes;
(c) Promoting public education and a range of regulatory and
non-regulatory incentives to encourage industry to change product
design and reduce industrial process wastes through cleaner production
technologies and good housekeeping practices and to encourage
industries and consumers to use types of packaging that can be safely
reused;
(d) Executing, in accordance with national capacities,
demonstration and pilot programmes to optimize waste minimization
instruments;
(e) Establishing procedures for adequate transport, storage,
conservation and management of agricultural products, foodstuffs and
other perishable goods in order to reduce the loss of those products,
which results in the production of solid waste;
(f) Facilitating the transfer of waste-reduction technologies
to industry, particularly in developing countries, and establishing
concrete national standards for effluents and solid waste, taking into
account, inter alia, raw material use and energy consumption.
(c) Human resource development
21.15. Human resource development for waste minimization not only
should be targeted at professionals in the waste management sector but
also should seek to obtain the support of citizens and industry. Human
resource development programmes must therefore aim to raise
consciousness and educate and inform concerned groups and the public in
general. Countries should incorporate within school curricula, where
appropriate, the principles and practices of preventing and minimizing
wastes and material on the environmental impacts of waste.
B. Maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse
and recycling
Basis for action
21.16. The exhaustion of traditional disposal sites, stricter
environmental controls governing waste disposal and increasing
quantities of more persistent wastes, particularly in industrialized
countries, have all contributed to a rapid increase in the cost of
waste disposal services. Costs could double or triple by the end of
the decade. Some current disposal practices pose a threat to the
environment. As the economics of waste disposal services change, waste
recycling and resource recovery are becoming increasingly
cost-effective. Future waste management programmes should take maximum
advantage of resource-efficient approaches to the control of wastes.
These activities should be carried out in conjunction with public
education programmes. It is important that markets for products from
reclaimed materials be identified in the development of reuse and
recycling programmes.
Objectives
21.17. The objectives in this area are:
(a) To strengthen and increase national waste reuse and
recycling systems;
(b) To create a model internal waste reuse and recycling
programme for waste streams, including paper, within the United Nations
system;
(c) To make available information, techniques and appropriate
policy instruments to encourage and make operational waste reuse and
recycling schemes.
21.18. Governments, according to their capacities and available
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other
relevant organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) By the year 2000, promote sufficient financial and
technological capacities at the regional, national and local levels, as
appropriate, to implement waste reuse and recycling policies and
actions;
(b) By the year 2000, in all industrialized countries, and by
the year 2010, in all developing countries, have a national programme,
including, to the extent possible, targets for efficient waste reuse
and recycling.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
21.19. Governments and institutions and non-governmental
organizations, including consumer, women's and youth groups, in
collaboration with appropriate organizations of the United Nations
system, should launch
programmes to demonstrate and make operational enhanced waste reuse and
recycling. These programmes should, wherever possible, build upon
existing or planned activities and should:
(a) Develop and strengthen national capacity to reuse and
recycle an increasing proportion of wastes;
(b) Review and reform national waste policies to provide
incentives for waste reuse and recycling;
(c) Develop and implement national plans for waste management
that take advantage of, and give priority to, waste reuse and
recycling;
(d) Modify existing standards or purchase specifications to
avoid discrimination against recycled materials, taking into account
the saving in energy and raw materials;
(e) Develop public education and awareness programmes to
promote the use of recycled products.
(b) Data and information
21.20. Information and research is required to identify promising
socially acceptable and cost-effective forms of waste reuse and
recycling relevant to each country. For example, supporting activities
undertaken by national and local governments in collaboration with the
United Nations and other international organizations could include:
(a) Undertaking an extensive review of options and techniques
for reuse and recycling all forms of municipal solid wastes. Policies
for reuse and recycling should be made an integral component of
national and local waste management programmes;
(b) Assessing the extent and practice of waste reuse and
recycling operations currently undertaken and identifying ways by which
these could be increased and supported;
(c) Increasing funding for research pilot programmes to test
various options for reuse and recycling, including the use of
small-scale, cottage-based recycling industries; compost production;
treated waste-water irrigation; and energy recovery from wastes;
(d) Producing guidelines and best practices for waste reuse and
recycling;
(e) Intensifying efforts, at collecting, analysing and
disseminating, to key target groups, relevant information on waste
issues. Special research grants could be made available on a
competitive basis for innovative research projects on recycling
techniques;
(f) Identifying potential markets for recycled products.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
21.21. States, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation,
including through the United Nations and other relevant international
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Undertake a periodic review of the extent to which
countries reuse and recycle their wastes;
(b) Review the effectiveness of techniques for and approaches
to waste reuse and recycling and ways of enhancing their application in
countries;
(c) Review and update international guidelines for the safe
reuse of wastes;
(d) Establish appropriate programmes to support small
communities' waste reuse and recycling industries in developing
countries.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
21.22. The Conference secretariat has estimated that if the equivalent
of 1 per cent of waste-related municipal expenditures was devoted to
safe waste reuse schemes, worldwide expenditures for this purpose would
amount to $8 billion. The secretariat estimates the total annual cost
(1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme area in
developing countries to be about $850 million on grant or concessional
terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and
have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial
terms, including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter
alia, the specific programmes proposed by international institutions
and approved by their governing bodies.
(b) Scientific and technological means
21.23. The transfer of technology should support waste recycling and
reuse by the following means:
(a) Including the transfer of recycling technologies, such as
machinery for reusing plastics, rubber and paper, within bilateral and
multilateral technical cooperation and aid programmes;
(b) Developing and improving existing technologies, especially
indigenous technologies, and facilitating their transfer under ongoing
regional and interregional technical assistance programmes;
(c) Facilitating the transfer of waste reuse and recycling
technology.
21.24. Incentives for waste reuse and recycling are numerous.
Countries could consider the following options to encourage industry,
institutions, commercial establishments and individuals to recycle
wastes instead of disposing of them:
(a) Offering incentives to local and municipal authorities that
recycle the maximum proportion of their wastes;
(b) Providing technical assistance to informal waste reuse and
recycling operations;
(c) Applying economic and regulatory instruments, including tax
incentives, to support the principle that generators of wastes pay for
their disposal;
(d) Providing legal and economic conditions conducive to
investments in waste reuse and recycling;
(e) Implementing specific mechanisms such as deposit/refund
systems as incentives for reuse and recycling;
(f) Promoting the separate collection of recyclable parts of
household wastes;
(g) Providing incentives to improve the marketability of
technically recyclable waste;
(h) Encouraging the use of recyclable materials, particularly
in packaging, where feasible;
(i) Encouraging the development of markets for recycled goods
by establishing programmes.
(c) Human resource development
21.25. Training will be required to reorient current waste management
practices to include waste reuse and recycling. Governments, in
collaboration with United Nations international and regional
organizations, should undertake the following indicative list of
actions:
(a) Including waste reuse and recycling in in-service training
programmes as integral components of technical cooperation programmes
on urban management and infrastructure development;
(b) Expanding training programmes on water supply and
sanitation to incorporate techniques and policies for waste reuse and
recycling;
(c) Including the advantages and civic obligations associated
with waste reuse and recycling in school curricula and relevant general
educational courses;
(d) Encouraging non-governmental organizations, community-based
organizations and women's, youth and public interest group programmes,
in collaboration with local municipal authorities, to mobilize
community support for waste reuse and recycling through focused
community-level campaigns.
(d) Capacity-building
21.26. Capacity-building to support increased waste reuse and
recycling should focus on the following areas:
(a) Making operational national policies and incentives for
waste management;
(b) Enabling local and municipal authorities to mobilize
community support for waste reuse and recycling by involving and
assisting informal sector waste reuse and recycling operations and
undertaking waste management planning that incorporates resource
recovery practices.
C. Promoting environmentally sound waste disposal
and treatment
Basis for action
21.27. Even when wastes are minimized, some wastes will still remain.
Even after treatment, all discharges of wastes have some residual
impact on the receiving environment. Consequently, there is scope for
improving waste treatment and disposal practices such as, for example,
avoiding the discharge of sludges at sea. In developing countries, the
problem is of a more fundamental nature: less than 10 per cent of
urban wastes receive some form of treatment and only a small proportion
of treatment is in compliance with any acceptable quality standard.
Faecal matter treatment and disposal should be accorded due priority
given the potential threat of faeces to human health.
Objectives
21.28. The objective in this area is to treat and safely dispose of a
progressively increasing proportion of the generated wastes.
21.29. Governments, according to their capacities and available
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other
relevant organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) By the year 2000, establish waste treatment and disposal
quality criteria, objectives and standards based on the nature and
assimilative capacity of the receiving environment;
(b) By the year 2000, establish sufficient capacity to
undertake waste-related pollution impact monitoring and conduct regular
surveillance, including epidemiological surveillance, where
appropriate;
(c) By the year 1995, in industrialized countries, and by the
year 2005, in developing countries, ensure that at least 50 per cent of
all sewage, waste waters and solid wastes are treated or disposed of in
conformity with national or international environmental and health
quality guidelines;
(d) By the year 2025, dispose of all sewage, waste waters and
solid wastes in conformity with national or international environmental
quality guidelines.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
21.30. Governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations,
together with industries, in collaboration with appropriate
organizations of the United Nations system, should launch programmes to
improve the control and management of waste-related pollution. These
programmes should, wherever possible, build upon existing or planned
activities and should:
(a) Develop and strengthen national capacity to treat and
safely dispose of wastes;
(b) Review and reform national waste management policies to
gain control over waste-related pollution;
(c) Encourage countries to seek waste disposal solutions within
their sovereign territory and as close as possible to the sources of
origin that are compatible with environmentally sound and efficient
management. In a number of countries, transboundary movements take
place to ensure that wastes are managed in an environmentally sound and
efficient way. Such movements observe the relevant conventions,
including those that apply to areas that are not under national
jurisdiction;
(d) Develop human wastes management plans, giving due attention
to the development and application of appropriate technologies and the
availability of resources for implementation.
(b) Data and information
21.31. Standard setting and monitoring are two key elements essential
for gaining control over waste-related pollution. The following
specific activities are indicative of the kind of supportive actions
that could be taken by international bodies such as the United Nations
Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), the United Nations Environment
Programme and the World Health Organization:
(a) Assembling and analysing the scientific evidence and
pollution impacts of wastes in the environment in order to formulate
and disseminate recommended scientific criteria and guidelines for the
environmentally sound management of solid wastes;
(b) Recommending national and, where relevant, local
environmental quality standards based on scientific criteria and
guidelines;
(c) Including within technical cooperation programmes and
agreements the provision for monitoring equipment and for the requisite
training in its use;
(d) Establishing an information clearing-house with extensive
networks at the regional, national and local levels to collect and
disseminate information on all aspects of waste management, including
safe disposal.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
21.32. States, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation,
including through the United Nations and other relevant international
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Identify, develop and harmonize methodologies and
environmental quality and health guidelines for safe waste discharge
and disposal;
(b) Review and keep abreast of developments and disseminate
information on the effectiveness of techniques and approaches to safe
waste disposal and ways of supporting their application in countries.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
21.33. Safe waste disposal programmes are relevant to both developed
and developing countries. In developed countries the focus is on
improving facilities to meet higher environmental quality criteria,
while in developing countries considerable investment is required to
build new treatment facilities.
21.34. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme in developing countries to be about $15 billion, including
about $3.4 billion from the international community on grant or
concessional terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude
estimates only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs
and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will
depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes
Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
21.35. Scientific guidelines and research on various aspects of
waste-related pollution control will be crucial for achieving the
objectives of this programme. Governments, municipalities and local
authorities, with appropriate international cooperation, should:
(a) Prepare guidelines and technical reports on subjects such
as the integration of land-use planning in human settlements with waste
disposal, environmental quality criteria and standards, waste treatment
and safe disposal options, industrial waste treatment and landfill
operations;
(b) Undertake research on critical subjects such as low-cost,
low-maintenance waste-water treatment systems; safe sludge disposal
options; industrial waste treatment; and low-technology, ecologically
safe waste disposal options;
(c) Transfer technologies, in conformity with the terms as well
as the provisions of chapter 34 (Transfer of environmentally sound
technology, cooperation and capacity-building), on industrial waste
treatment processes through bilateral nad multilateral technical
cooperation programmes and in cooperation with business and industry,
including large and transnational corporations, as appropriate.
(d) Focus on the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of
existing facilities and technical assistance on improved maintenance
practices and techniques followed by the planning and construction of
waste treatment facilities;
(e) Establish programmes to maximize the source segregation and
safe disposal of the hazardous components of municipal solid waste;
(f) Ensure the investment and provision of waste collection
facilities with the concomitant provision of water services and with an
equal and parallel investment and provision of waste treatment
facilities.
(c) Human resource development
21.36. Training would be required to improve current waste management
practices to include safe collection and waste disposal. The following
is an indicative list of actions that should be taken by Governments,
in collaboration with international organizations:
(a) Providing both formal and in-service training, focused on
pollution control, waste treatment and disposal technologies, and
operating and maintaining waste-related infrastructure. Intercountry
staff exchange programmes should also be established;
(b) Undertaking the requisite training for waste-related
pollution monitoring and control enforcement.
(d) Capacity-building
21.37. Institutional reforms and capacity-building will be
indispensable if countries are to be able to quantify and mitigate
waste-related pollution. Activities to achieve this objective should
include:
(a) Creating and strengthening independent environmental
control bodies at the national and local levels. International
organizations and donors should support needed upgrading of manpower
skills and provision of equipment;
(b) Empowering of pollution control agencies with the requisite
legal mandate and financial capacities to carry out their duties
effectively.
D. Extending waste service coverage
Basis for action
21.38. By the end of the century, over 2.0 billion people will be
without access to basic sanitation, and an estimated half of the urban
population in developing countries will be without adequate solid waste
disposal services. As many as 5.2 million people, including 4 million
children under five years of age, die each year from waste-related
diseases. The health impacts are particularly severe for the urban
poor. The health and environmental impacts of inadequate waste
management, however, go beyond the unserved settlements themselves and
result in water, land and air contamination and pollution over a wider
area. Extending and improving waste collection and safe disposal
services are crucial to gaining control over this form of pollution.
Objectives
21.39. The overall objective of this programme is to provide
health-protecting, environmentally safe waste collection and disposal
services to all people. Governments, according to their capacities and
available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and
other relevant organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) By the year 2000, have the necessary technical, financial
and human resource capacity to provide waste collection services
commensurate with needs;
(b) By the year 2025, provide all urban populations with
adequate waste services;
(c) By the year 2025, ensure that full urban waste service
coverage is maintained and sanitation coverage achieved in all rural
areas.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
21.40. Governments, according to their capacities and available
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other
relevant organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Establish financing mechanisms for waste management service
development in deprived areas, including appropriate modes of revenue
generation;
(b) Apply the "polluter pays" principle, where appropriate, by
setting waste management charges at rates that reflect the costs of
providing the service and ensure that those who generate the wastes pay
the full cost of disposal in an environmentally safe way;
(c) Encourage institutionalization of communities'
participation in planning and implementation procedures for solid waste
management.
(b) Data and information
21.41. Governments, in collaboration with the United Nations and
international organizations, should undertake the following:
(a) Developing and applying methodologies for waste monitoring;
(b) Data gathering and analysis to establish goals and monitor
progress;
(c) Inputting information into a global information system
building upon existing systems;
(d) Strengthening the activities of existing information
networks in order to disseminate focused information on the application
of innovative and low-cost alternatives for waste disposal to targeted
audiences.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
21.42. Many United Nations and bilateral programmes exist that seek to
provide water supply and sanitation services to the unserved. The
Water and Sanitation Collaborative Council, a global forum, currently
acts to coordinate development and encourage cooperation. Even so,
given the ever-increasing numbers of unserved urban poor populations
and the need to address, in addition, the problem of solid waste
disposal, additional mechanisms are essential to ensure accelerated
coverage of urban waste disposal services. The international community
in general and selected United Nations organizations in particular
should:
(a) Launch a settlement infrastructure and environment
programme following the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development to coordinate the activities of all organizations of the
United Nations system involved in this area and include a
clearing-house for information dissemination on all waste management
issues;
(b) Undertake and systematically report on progress in
providing waste services to those without such services;
(c) Review the effectiveness of techniques for and approaches
to increasing coverage and identify innovative ways of accelerating the
process.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
21.43. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme to be about $7.5 billion, including about $2.6 billion from
the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are
indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been
reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including
any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
21.44. Governments and institutions, together with non-governmental
organizations, should, in collaboration with appropriate organizations
of the United Nations system, launch programmes in different parts of
the developing world to extend waste services to the unserved
populations. These programmes should, wherever possible, build upon
and reorient existing or planned activities.
21.45. Policy changes at the national and local levels could enhance
the rate of waste service coverage extension. These changes should
include the following:
(a) Giving full recognition to and using the full range of
low-cost options for waste management, including, where appropriate,
their institutionalization and incorporation within codes of practice
and regulation;
(b) Assigning high priority to the extension of waste
management services, as necessary and appropriate, to all settlements
irrespective of their legal status, giving due emphasis to meeting the
waste disposal needs of the unserved, especially the unserved urban
poor;
(c) Integrating the provision and maintenance of waste
management services with other basic services such as water-supply and
storm-water drainage.
21.46. Research activities could be enhanced. Countries, in
cooperation with appropriate international organizations and
non-governmental organizations, should, for instance:
(a) Find solutions and equipment for managing wastes in areas
of concentrated populations and on small islands. In particular, there
is a need for appropriate refuse storage and collection systems and
cost-effective and hygienic human waste disposal options;
(b) Prepare and disseminate guidelines, case-studies, policy
reviews and technical reports on appropriate solutions and modes of
service delivery to unserved low-income areas;
(c) Launch campaigns to encourage active community
participation involving women's and youth groups in the management of
waste, particularly household waste;
(d) Promote intercountry transfer of relevant technologies,
especially technologies for high-density settlements.
(c) Human resource development
21.47. International organizations and national and local Governments,
in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, should provide
focused training on low-cost waste collection and disposal options,
particularly techniques for their planning and delivery. Intercountry
staff exchange programmes among developing countries could form part of
such training. Particular attention should be given to upgrading the
status and skills of management-level personnel in waste management
agencies.
21.48. Improvements in management techniques are likely to yield the
greatest returns in terms of improving waste management service
efficiency. The United Nations, international organizations and
financial institutions should, in collaboration with national and local
Governments, develop and render operational management information
systems for municipal record keeping and accounting and for efficiency
and effectiveness assessment.
(d) Capacity-building
21.49. Governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations,
with the collaboration of appropriate organizations of the United
Nations system, should develop capacities to implement programmes to
provide waste collection and disposal services to the unserved
populations. Some activities under the programmes should include the
following:
(a) Establishing a special unit within current institutional
arrangements to plan and deliver services to the unserved poor
communities, with their involvement and participation;
(b) Making revisions to existing codes and regulations to
permit the use of the full range of low-cost alternative technologies
for waste disposal;
(c) Building institutional capacity and developing procedures
for undertaking service planning and delivery.
END OF CHAPTER 21
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