AGENDA 21 OBLIGATIONS

Chapter 21 

ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTES AND SEWAGE-RELATED ISSUES

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:

·        Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater resources: application of integrated approaches to the development, management and use of water resources (chapter 18);

·        Promoting sustainable human settlement development (chapter 7);

·        Protecting and promoting human health conditions (chapter 6);

·        Changing consumption patterns (chapter 4).

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:

·        Minimizing wastes;

·        Maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse and recycling;

·        Promoting environmentally sound waste disposal and treatment;

·        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.

A. Minimizing wastes

Objectives

21.8. The objectives in this area are:

·        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;

·        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:

·        By the year 2000, ensure sufficient national, regional and international capacity to access, process and monitor waste trend information and implement waste minimization policies;

·        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;

·        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:

·        Develop and strengthen national capacities in research and design of environmentally sound technologies, as well as adopt measures to reduce wastes to a minimum;

·        Provide for incentives to reduce unsustainable patterns of production and consumption;

·        Develop, where necessary, national plans to minimize waste generation as part of overall national development plans;

·        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:

·        Develop and apply methodologies for country-level waste monitoring;

·        Undertake data gathering and analysis, establish national goals and monitor progress;

·        Utilize data to assess environmental soundness of national waste policies as a basis for corrective action;

·        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:

·        Identifying, developing and harmonizing methodologies for waste monitoring and transferring such methodologies to countries;

·        Identifying and further developing the activities of existing information networks on clean technologies and waste minimization;

·        Undertaking periodic assessment, collating and analysing country data and reporting systematically, in an appropriate United Nations forum, to the countries concerned;

·        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;

·        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:

·        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;

·        Promoting waste prevention and minimization as the principal objective of national waste management programmes;

·        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;

·        Executing, in accordance with national capacities, demonstration and pilot programmes to optimize waste minimization instruments;

·        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;

·        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.

1. Maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse and recycling

Objectives

21.17. The objectives in this area are:

·        To strengthen and increase national waste reuse and recycling systems;

·        To create a model internal waste reuse and recycling programme for waste streams, including paper, within the United Nations system;

·        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:

·        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;

·        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:

·        Develop and strengthen national capacity to reuse and recycle an increasing proportion of wastes;

·        Review and reform national waste policies to provide incentives for waste reuse and recycling;

·        Develop and implement national plans for waste management that take advantage of, and give priority to, waste reuse and recycling;

·        Modify existing standards or purchase specifications to avoid discrimination against recycled materials, taking into account the saving in energy and raw materials;

·        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:

·        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;

·        Assessing the extent and practice of waste reuse and recycling operations currently undertaken and identifying ways by which these could be increased and supported;

·        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;

·        Producing guidelines and best practices for waste reuse and recycling;

·        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;

·        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:

·        Undertake a periodic review of the extent to which countries reuse and recycle their wastes;

·        Review the effectiveness of techniques for and approaches to waste reuse and recycling and ways of enhancing their application in countries;

·        Review and update international guidelines for the safe reuse of wastes;

·        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:

·        Including the transfer of recycling technologies, such as machinery for reusing plastics, rubber and paper, within bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation and aid programmes;

·        Developing and improving existing technologies, especially indigenous technologies, and facilitating their transfer under ongoing regional and interregional technical assistance programmes;

·        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:

·        Offering incentives to local and municipal authorities that recycle the maximum proportion of their wastes;

·        Providing technical assistance to informal waste reuse and recycling operations;

·        Applying economic and regulatory instruments, including tax incentives, to support the principle that generators of wastes pay for their disposal;

·        Providing legal and economic conditions conducive to investments in waste reuse and recycling;

·        Implementing specific mechanisms such as deposit/refund systems as incentives for reuse and recycling;

·        Promoting the separate collection of recyclable parts of household wastes;

·        Providing incentives to improve the marketability of technically recyclable waste;

·        Encouraging the use of recyclable materials, particularly in packaging, where feasible;

·        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:

·        Including waste reuse and recycling in in-service training programmes as integral components of technical cooperation programmes on urban management and infrastructure development;

·        Expanding training programmes on water supply and sanitation to incorporate techniques and policies for waste reuse and recycling;

·        Including the advantages and civic obligations associated with waste reuse and recycling in school curricula and relevant general educational courses;

·        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:

·        Making operational national policies and incentives for waste management;

·        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.

2. Promoting environmentally sound waste disposal and treatment

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:

·        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;

·        By the year 2000, establish sufficient capacity to undertake waste-related pollution impact monitoring and conduct regular surveillance, including epidemiological surveillance, where appropriate;

·        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;

·        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:

·        Develop and strengthen national capacity to treat and safely dispose of wastes;

·        Review and reform national waste management policies to gain control over waste-related pollution;

·        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;

·        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:

·        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;

·        Recommending national and, where relevant, local environmental quality standards based on scientific criteria and guidelines;

·        Including within technical cooperation programmes and agreements the provision for monitoring equipment and for the requisite training in its use;

·        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:

·        Identify, develop and harmonize methodologies and environmental quality and health guidelines for safe waste discharge and disposal;

·        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:

·        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;

·        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;

·        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.

·        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;

·        Establish programmes to maximize the source segregation and safe disposal of the hazardous components of municipal solid waste;

·        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:

·        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;

·        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:

·        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;

·        Empowering of pollution control agencies with the requisite legal mandate and financial capacities to carry out their duties effectively.

D. Extending waste service coverage

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:

·        By the year 2000, have the necessary technical, financial and human resource capacity to provide waste collection services commensurate with needs;

·        By the year 2025, provide all urban populations with adequate waste services;

·        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:

·        Establish financing mechanisms for waste management service development in deprived areas, including appropriate modes of revenue generation;

·        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;

·        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:

·        Developing and applying methodologies for waste monitoring;

·        Data gathering and analysis to establish goals and monitor progress;

·        Inputting information into a global information system building upon existing systems;

·        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:

·        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;

·        Undertake and systematically report on progress in providing waste services to those without such services;

·        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:

·        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;

·        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;

·        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:

·        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;

·        Prepare and disseminate guidelines, case-studies, policy reviews and technical reports on appropriate solutions and modes of service delivery to unserved low-income areas;

·        Launch campaigns to encourage active community participation involving women's and youth groups in the management of waste, particularly household waste;

·        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:

·        Establishing a special unit within current institutional arrangements to plan and deliver services to the unserved poor communities, with their involvement and participation;

·        Making revisions to existing codes and regulations to permit the use of the full range of low-cost alternative technologies for waste disposal;

·        Building institutional capacity and developing procedures for undertaking service planning and delivery.