Integrated waste management - Looking beyond the solid waste horizon
- School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland (New Zealand) and School of the Built Environment, Unitec New Zealand, Private Bag 92025, Auckland (New Zealand)
Waste as a management issue has been evident for over four millennia. Disposal of waste to the biosphere has given way to thinking about, and trying to implement, an integrated waste management approach. In 1996 the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) defined 'integrated waste management' as 'a framework of reference for designing and implementing new waste management systems and for analysing and optimising existing systems'. In this paper the concept of integrated waste management as defined by UNEP is considered, along with the parameters that constitute integrated waste management. The examples used are put into four categories: (1) integration within a single medium (solid, aqueous or atmospheric wastes) by considering alternative waste management options (2) multi-media integration (solid, aqueous, atmospheric and energy wastes) by considering waste management options that can be applied to more than one medium (3) tools (regulatory, economic, voluntary and informational) and (4) agents (governmental bodies (local and national), businesses and the community). This evaluation allows guidelines for enhancing success: (1) as experience increases, it is possible to deal with a greater complexity; and (2) integrated waste management requires a holistic approach, which encompasses a life cycle understanding of products and services. This in turn requires different specialisms to be involved in the instigation and analysis of an integrated waste management system. Taken together these advance the path to sustainability.
- OSTI ID:
- 20877579
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 26, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2006.04.009; PII: S0956-053X(06)00127-9; Copyright (c) 2006 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Sustainable management measures for healthcare waste in China
Considerations of the Differences between Bedded and Domal Salt Pertaining to Disposal of Heat-Generating Nuclear Waste