To this point, we have seen the total amount of garbage that we generate, the increasing of this waste and the main causes.
Whatever the cause is, the fact is there’s no doubt that the increase in waste increase has not only been extraordinary but continues to increase in many countries –- developed or in the OECD[1]–-which generate 44% of the world’’s waste, and..
What will happen when developing countries such as China (which is already the second highest country in waste production, after the USA) –-or India–-achieve the same waste generation quotas per inhabitant? It is estimated[2] that, in 2025, the global waste generation in the cities around the world rise to levels of around 4,300 million tons per year, which would mean that, in just 13 years, the current waste figures would triple.
Waste is an environmental, social and economic problem
The –-ecological, social, and economic–- problems that waste causes will undoubtedly be worseworsen in the following years, to come with no doubt if we continue withoutcontinue to fail to recycleing (reduce, reuse, compost). With this in mind, we should ask ourselves the next question….
What should we do with waste?
Every year, worldwide, cities around the world are generating around 1,300 million tons of waste per year (about 3.6 million tons per day, and bearing in mind that one ton is 1,000 kg). Also, this amount of garbage grows increases over the years. What should we do, then, with all this amount of waste? Do we bury it? Do we burn it? Or do we recycle it?
The history of humanity shows that the destination or the main solutions to this question have been landfills and, in over the last 150 years, also the incineration. Therefore, most of the waste that we generate ends up in these treatment facilities. However, what does each one consist of? What impacts do they have on the environment and people?
Let’s see look at an in-depth review of each one…in the next post.
Want to know more?
i The book Stop garbage. The truth about recycling, Alex Pascual, February 2019
i The world’’s trash crisis, and why many Americans are oblivious, Los Angeles Times (ENG)
[1]. The organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD): Countries (resume): European Union, USA, Canada, Meéxico, Chile, South Korea, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Percentage from “What a Waste,” World Bank, 2012
[2]. “What a Waste,” World Bank report, 2012
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