This regional report is the product of the joint efforts of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS). The report assesses solid waste management in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in the year 2010, and is the result of a year-long research and information analysis project supported by governmental agencies, NGOs, and universities from several countries of the region.

As global waste generation increases at a rapid rate, there is a dire need for waste management practices such as collection, disposal, and recycling to protect from environmental pollution. However, developing countries generate two to three times more waste, resort to open dumps more often than developed countries, and are slower to integrate waste management standards. There is a need for studies that examine the waste generation and practices of countries that share similar economic backgrounds as they strive to implement successful waste management techniques. Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Developing Countries is an essential reference source that discusses the challenges and strategies of waste management practices and the unique waste issues faced by developing countries that prevent them from achieving the goal of integrated waste management. While highlighting topics including e-waste, transboundary movement, and consumption patterns, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, legislators, waste company managers, environmentalists, students, academicians, and municipal planners seeking current research on the global waste management problem.

This volume focuses on the collection of waste and waste streams as an integral aspect of sustainable waste management. The authors take economic models and behavioral studies into account to go beyond just descriptions of waste collections technologies and collection route design. Models and tools for sustainable waste collection are described in detail, and the authors provide a comprehensive, integrated methodology to design waste collection systems that reduce environmental impacts, are economically viable, and achieve buy-in and participation from target populations. Part I of the book provides fundamentals and context on waste hierarchy, including waste prevention, reduction and reuse, waste collection itself, and steps such as preparation for recycling, recycling, treatment, and landfilling. Background in environmental, social, and economic concerns surrounding waste collection is also provided here. Part II addresses tools for design, operation, and maintenance of waste collection systems. Part III focuses on how the tools presented in Part II can be used to support sustainability assessments and decisions that consider the entire life cycle of waste and the role of waste collection programs in waste prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, treatment, and disposal. Part IV addresses the challenges of developing sustainable waste management systems and addresses the role of waste collection in sustainable waste management in the future.

Winner of the International Solid Waste Association's 2014 Publication Award, Handbook of Recycling is an authoritative review of the current state-of-the-art of recycling, reuse and reclamation processes commonly implemented today and how they interact with one another. The book addresses several material flows, including iron, steel, aluminum and other metals, pulp and paper, plastics, glass, construction materials, industrial by-products, and more. It also details various recycling technologies as well as recovery and collection techniques. To completely round out the picture of recycling, the book considers policy and economic implications, including the impact of recycling on energy use, sustainable development, and the environment. With contemporary recycling literature scattered across disparate, unconnected articles, this book is a crucial aid to students and researchers in a range of disciplines, from materials and environmental science to public policy studies. - Portrays recent and emerging technologies in metal recycling, by-product utilization and management of post-consumer waste - Uses life cycle analysis to show how to reclaim valuable resources from mineral and metallurgical wastes - Uses examples from current professional and industrial practice, with policy and economic implications

UCLG’s Third Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD III) examines basic service provision and the current state-of-play of the local governance of basic services around the world. Basic Services for All in an Urbanizing World examines the enormous challenge of ensuring the universal provision of basic services in a world that is being shaped by rapid global urbanization, climate change, and economic, social and technological transformation. The world’s urban population is predicted to reach 5 billion people within the next 20-30 years. The report analyses the conditions necessary for local governments to provide these new urban residents with quality basic services. Water, sanitation, waste management, transport and energy are essential, not only for the preservation of human life and dignity, but also in driving economic growth and ensuring social equality. Each chapter examines a world region, drawing on existing research and consultation with local authorities on the ground. The chapters review access levels, legal and institutional frameworks, and the different ways in which basic services are managed and financed, as well as showcasing diverse examples of innovation in the local and multi-level governance of services. It concludes with a set of recommendations for all stakeholders with a view to making the goal of basic services for all a reality. This report contributes to discussions on the Millennium Development Goals and the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda. The findings of GOLD III will also be essential to promoting the vision of local governments at the 2016 UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat III).

Advanced Zero Waste Tools: Present and Emerging Waste Management Practices, Volume One in the Concepts of Advanced Zero Waste Tools series addresses the fundamental principles of zero waste that encourages the redesign of resource lifecycles so that products are reused. By promoting reuse and recycling, as well as prevention and product designs that consider the entire product lifecycle, the zero waste philosophy advocates for sustainability and environmental management and protection. This book takes the first step toward addressing the tools needed to implement zero waste, both on a practical and conceptual scale. In addition to environmental and engineering principles, the book also covers economic, toxicologic and regulatory issues, making it an important resource for researchers, engineers and policymakers working toward environmental sustainability. - Uses fundamental, interdisciplinary and state-of-the-art coverage of zero waste research to provide an integrated approach to tools, methodology and indicators - Covers current challenges, design and manufacturing technology, and sustainability applications - Includes up-to-date references and web resources at the end of each chapter, as well as a webpage dedicated to providing supplementary information