Hub Of Waste Management For Sustainable Development

Leo Migdal

-Nov 19, 2025, 10:25 PM

hub of waste management for sustainable development

Waste management plays a crucial role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It encompasses a range of practices and strategies aimed at reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, as well as promoting responsible consumption and production. By effectively managing waste, societies can mitigate environmental impacts, promote socioeconomic development, and safeguard public health. Over the years, waste management practices have evolved significantly. Traditionally, waste was disposed of in landfills or incinerated without much consideration for its long-term impact. However, as environmental concerns grew, the global community started recognizing the need for sustainable waste management.

This shift in mindset led to the incorporation of waste-related goals in the SDGs, highlighting the importance of waste management in achieving sustainable development. Waste management refers to the collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of waste in an environmentally sound manner. It involves various key concepts, such as the circular economy, waste hierarchy, and extended producer responsibility. The circular economy promotes the idea of minimizing waste generation by keeping resources in use for as long as possible. The waste hierarchy, consisting of the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, provides a framework for prioritizing waste management strategies. Extended producer responsibility holds manufacturers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, including proper disposal.

Waste is generated in various sectors, including households, industries, and commercial establishments. Understanding the types and sources of waste is crucial for developing effective waste management strategies. Additionally, analyzing the composition of waste helps identify materials that can be diverted from landfills through recycling or composting. By addressing waste generation and composition, societies can implement targeted waste management interventions. Sustainable waste management involves a range of practices aimed at minimizing waste and maximizing resource recovery. Waste prevention, recycling, composting, and waste-to-energy technologies are key approaches in this regard.

Waste prevention focuses on reducing waste at its source, while recycling and composting ensure valuable materials are reused or converted into useful products. Waste-to-energy technologies harness the energy potential of waste, contributing to renewable energy production. Sarah Lee AI generated Llama-4-Maverick-17B-128E-Instruct-FP8 6 min read · May 26, 2025 Effective waste management is crucial for achieving sustainable development goals. The impact of waste on the environment and human health is significant, and if not managed properly, can have severe consequences. Waste can contaminate soil, air, and water, leading to environmental degradation and health problems.

The improper disposal of waste can result in the release of toxic chemicals, greenhouse gases, and other pollutants that can harm both humans and wildlife. For example, the decomposition of organic waste in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 times higher than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time frame [^1]. The health impacts of poor waste management are also significant. Exposure to waste can lead to the spread of diseases, respiratory problems, and other health issues. In developing countries, the lack of proper waste management infrastructure can result in the accumulation of waste in streets and waterways, creating breeding grounds for disease vectors like mosquitoes and rodents. Waste management plays a critical role in achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including:

This study examines the multidimensional challenges and opportunities in waste management, highlighting its crucial role in sustainable development. Through a systematic literature review following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines and analyzing publications from 2016 to 2024, identify emerging trends and best practices across environmental, social, economic, and... Global waste generation continues to increase alarmingly, with complex waste streams posing unprecedented challenges to existing infrastructure. Our analysis reveals promising technological innovations, including waste-to-energy systems, AI-based sorting, advanced recycling, biological treatment processes, and smart waste management solutions integrated with Internet of Things and data analytics. We evaluate these approaches through Life Cycle Assessment methodologies, examining both environmental impacts and economic considerations. The research emphasizes the importance of policy frameworks, from international agreements to local initiatives, and highlights behavioural change and community engagement as critical success factors.

Finally, we demonstrate waste management's potential for job creation and socioeconomic benefits, transforming an environmental challenge into an opportunity for sustainable development. This holistic assessment provides actionable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners dedicated to advancing sustainable waste management practices. This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access. Price excludes VAT (USA) Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Adanma UM, Ogunbiyi EO (2024) A comparative review of global environmental policies for promoting sustainable development and economic growth. Int J Appl Res Soc Sci 6(5):954–977

Alaghemandi M (2024) Sustainable solutions through innovative plastic waste recycling technologies. Sustainability 16(23):10401 We support local authorities in tackling the growing challenge of municipal solid waste management and to contribute to a circular economy. UN-Habitat launched “Waste Wise Cities”, to address the increasing global waste management crisis. Waste from homes, markets, businesses and institutions is thrown on the streets, in drains, dumped next to communities or openly burnt. Not only does this make our cities unsightly and unattractive to tourists and investors, it leads to flooding, air and water pollution, diseases as well as respiratory and other health problems.

The urban poor are the most affected. Waste management operations account for a significant proportion of city budgets, but financing for waste management remains inadequate. However, cities can effectively tackle the waste management problem when regarding waste as a resource, contributing also to reducing global Green House Gas emissions and local air pollution. To be successful, cities must deal with their waste management issues in their context, while also learning from the experience of other cities While poor solid waste collection and management causes air and water pollution, as well as marine litter and contributes to climate change, a sustainable integrated solid waste management system can actually create opportunities. These include for example green jobs, renewable energies and becoming more self-sufficient by closing the loop for relevant resources.

Learn more about the Waste Wise Cities initiative. Rampant linear resource use is generating more waste, and more complex waste, which many communities and countries are unable to manage. Consequently, waste is polluting our air, land and water, harming human health and contributing to the global climate crisis. Within and among communities, poorly managed waste exacerbates existing inequalities. Globally, some 15 million people earn a fragile livelihood collecting recyclable waste from streets and dumpsites and returning it to the value chain. Ironically, these vulnerable communities are also the least likely to benefit from a waste management service, and the most likely to be living in areas polluted by poorly managed waste.

For these reasons, UNEP is backing the Global Waste Initiative introduced by the COP27 presidency, to reduce waste by 50 per cent by 2050. Greater resource-efficiency delivered through circular economy models can move us much closer to the Sustainable Development Goals. The transition will not be fair by default, and so policymakers, businesses and civil society will need to take great effort to ensure that nobody is left behind. This report, Towards Zero Waste: a catalyst for delivering the Sustainable Development Goals, sets out how improved resource efficiency and ensuring universal access to waste management services can improve lives across the globe. Its focus is on actions that governments and municipalities in the Global South can take to provide cost-effective and inclusive programmes that will contribute to sustainable development, for the benefit of current and future...

Hub Of Waste Management For Sustainable Development

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