Waste management in human settlements is a challenge to be met in every region of the world. It requires a willingness to act, the ability to implement sustainable management solutions for the benefit of all, coordinated regional planning and the involvement of citizens. It is as much about reducing, reusing and recycling (materials and energy) what can be reduced as it is about disposing of waste that cannot yet be recycled in good environmental conditions.

Each country, each region, each city has its own challenges to meet, which require local ownership and the implementation of local solutions:

  • Stable governance of waste management
  • Ambitious but realistic planning of the solutions to be implemented to serve everyone
  • Funding for infrastructure AND operational management of collection and treatment
  • Cooperation between the public and private sectors

Waste management is closely linked to other sectors for which public authorities are responsible: drainage, drinking water, sanitation, transport, road management, agriculture and health. It is therefore necessary to establish a system of territorial governance that enables the integration of the public policies of these sectors.

Ou objectives

We want to convince international decision-makers that waste management has an immediate impact on people’s daily lives, far beyond the issue of cleanliness. Good waste management supports the achievement of many sustainable development objectives.

We want to advance territorial governance in relation to waste management, in particular by:

  • Remind all stakeholders that waste management has a cost, but that this cost can be shared;
  • Make short-, medium- and long-term planning a guiding principle for the authorities in charge;
  • Consider that, everywhere, waste treatment in any form is an element in the implementation of a circular economy;
  • Encourage the development of a common vision through cooperation between the authorities responsible for solid waste management and those responsible for spatial planning processes and public service funding mechanisms.

A podcast about the structure that underpins waste management

Discover our podcast about the structure and organizations that underpin responsible waste management.