UNITED
NATIONS
UNEP(DTIE)/GPWM/BC.1/INF/8
Global Partnership
on Waste Management
Distr.: General
12 October 2012
English only
Biennium Conference of the Global
Partnership on Waste Management
Osaka, Japan, 5 and 6 November 2012
Background paper on research and technology needs in waste
management
I.
Introduction
1.
With rapidly increasing population, urbanization, industrialization and economic growth in
developing countries and countries with economies in transition, waste management is becoming one of
the most significant planning challenges in the 21st century. While many technologies to deal with
different types of waste have been developed, more efficient, effective and environmentally sustainable
waste management methods are needed in order to be able to better address these challenges. In addition,
such methods need to be transferred to developing counties and countries with economies in transition,
and as appropriate, these methods have to be adapted to the specific needs of these countries.
2.
Identifying and filling knowledge gaps is critical in this respect. Research on waste
management and on the best ways to achieve the transfer of environmentally sound technologies will play
a key role in moving forward on this issue. Such research will require strong international and national
collaboration between academia, governments and the private sector.
II.
Background
3.
The extent of the waste management problem can be illustrated by the fact that in developing
countries, 20 to 50 percent of the municipal budget is spent on solid waste management, of which 80 to
90 percent is used for collection only (cf. IETC Policy Brief on Integrated Solid Waste Management).
The focus of modern waste management is the 3R concept – Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. While much of the
waste could have a second life, there will also always be material left that will remain end of life waste.
Both aspects require attention.
4.
In terms of application of the 3R concept, major advances have been made in a number of
areas. Examples are the use of waste – such as waste plastics, and waste agricultural biomass - for energy
generation, the recycling of parts of e-waste and the segregation and recycling of much of the solid waste.
Still, for other types of waste, such as waste oils, recycling efforts are still not sufficient: While annual
global consumption of lubricating oil is estimated at 42 million tons, for only 38 percent of this, recycling
or proper destruction takes place. These examples illustrate that the extent of the waste problem is such
that it requires to be addressed with the best available methodologies, and the numbers demonstrate that,
while much is being done to address proper waste management, there is a very large scope for making
improvements. While IETC has brought together best practices in technology manuals which are widely
distributed and used, advances are necessary in both the technologies, and in the transfer of these
technologies, in order to ensure that they can be applied in the best possible ways in developing countries
and countries with economies in transition. Well coordinated research programmes around the world are
crucial to achieve this; by bringing together international expertise, synergies can be built. Some
examples of areas for research are indicated below.
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UNEP(DTIE)/GPWM/BC.1/INF/8
5.
Within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) context,
various climate change mitigation actions are being discussed: the Clean Development Mechanism, the
Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions and the Low-Emission Development Strategies. They all have
possibilities to achieve synergies between waste and climate change mitigation, e.g. regarding the
treatment of municipal waste, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion and landfill gas collection. The
UNEP pilot initiative on Short Lived Climate Forcers (carbon black, methane, tropospheric ozone) can
also provide such possibilities. Further research could help to realize these possibilities to the fullest
extent.
6.
For a number of waste streams, more advanced technologies could be developed. Examples
include e-waste, health care waste, construction and demolition waste, sewage sludge, used car tires and
textiles. Urban mining practices to recuperate, for example, (rare) metals could be improved in a
responsible way. Thought could be given to methods to deal with possible new waste management issues,
such as those related to certain nanomaterials.
7.
Research could also be undertaken on how certain economic sectors, such as ship
decommissioning, car destruction, chemicals production or agriculture, could apply environmentally
sound approaches for dealing with their waste issues in a more advanced way.
8.
The final disposal of waste that cannot be reused could also be further addressed, not only in
terms of the best technologies to be applied, but also with respect to how available technologies can be
made better known and how disposal can be best organized at a local, regional, national, or when needed,
international scale. This could, for example, apply to destruction technologies for ozone depleting
substances and waste oils.
9.
In addition to further development of technologies, research would also be needed on ways to
adapt certain technologies to the specific needs of their application in developing countries and countries
with economies in transition. It would be important that for some of the methods involving advanced
technology options, effective and affordable low technology versions would be developed and made
available.
10.
Research could also be undertaken on how the use of environmentally friendly waste
management technologies could be promoted. Policies to harness benefits from investing in greening the
waste sector and thereby creating opportunities for green growth could be further developed in the
context of green economy policies. Such research could also cover the design of economically feasible
ways to address aspects of the unfavorable working conditions, especially regarding health and safety, of
workers in the informal waste sector.
11.
Finally, the political economy of options for technology transfer could be studied with the
objective of finding solutions for technology transfer which would be satisfactory for technology
providers and technology receivers. Possibly, issues related to intellectual property rights would need to
be addressed in this context.
12.
For many of the issues mentioned above, the Global Partnership on Waste Management
(GPWM) is a very appropriate platform for discussion and action in the waste field. In the GPWM
context, work is already ongoing concerning waste issues related to climate change, integrated solid waste
management and dealing with agricultural biomass waste, ande-waste. Also, with respect to marine litter
and waste minimization, research efforts would be needed to advance solving current and upcoming
problems.
III.
Possible discussion points
13.
The discussions in this session could be very helpful for the partners in the six focal areas of
the GPWM, because they could consider how the research needs identified in this session could be
addressed in relation to the ongoing work. Possible specific discussion points for this session could
include:
14.
What kind of innovative research is needed to allow environmentally positive changes to be
made in waste collection, handling, separation and processing?
15.
What kind of research is needed to further improve waste transformation and to promote re-use
and energy generation from waste?
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UNEP(DTIE)/GPWM/BC.1/INF/8
16.
What kind of research is needed to advance the development of new economic opportunities
related to waste management in the green economy context?
17.
What kind of knowledge gaps need to be filled in order to facilitate further application of high
and low waste management technology options in developing countries and in countries with economies
in transition?
18.
In which areas are innovative approaches, which would help to overcome existing barriers to
waste management technology transfer, needed?
19.
What are the research priorities among the above and possible other issues?
20.
Which forms of international and national co-operation are needed to provide the best basis for
rapid progress on the above issues?
IV.
Conclusion
21.
Much research is ongoing to address issues related to waste management. The problem is,
however, of an immense magnitude, and new issues are continuously coming up. Therefore, research
efforts are crucial to find new ways to address current challenges, or find ways to make current
approaches more efficient and effective across the globe. The GPWM is a forum that can help to facilitate
and catalyze research which is deemed to be a priority. The international experts gathered at this
conference constitute an excellent basis to provide the GPWM with well-founded inputs in this respect.
The GPWM can then consider how such priority research aspects could productively be further included
in its work. Such research could cover technology development, but also technology adaptation and
methodologies that would promote technology transfer and the inclusion of environmentally sound waste
management in green economy policies.
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