ABSTRACT
Globally, the volume of waste is increasing. This is driven by global changes in the pattern of resource consumption linked to population growth, urbanisation and economic development (UNEP 2010). Global trends towards urbanisation in both developed and developing countries are particularly significant in driving increases in municipal solid waste. There are also strong links between the level of economic development and municipal solid waste generation with the greatest per capita volumes found in the wealthiest countries; around 2.2 kg per person per day in OECD countries (ibid.). As well as the increasing volume of waste we also need to note an increasing complexity of materials used in manufactured goods that are now entering the waste stream. The fastest growing waste stream in both developed and developing countries is composed of electronic products or parts which, in turn, include some materials that are hazardous to humans or the environment (ibid.). Increasing levels of consumption are also responsible for depleting and degrading natural resources worldwide. In mining, for example, the global trend towards ever increasing levels of production is compounded by increasing reliance on lower quality ore bodies. As rich ore bodies are depleted mining operations are shifting from underground towards large open cut mines that involve significant earth moving operations and big environmental rehabilitation challenges. According to environmental engineer, Gavin Mudd,2 ‘it is the environmental cost which will, in the medium to longer term, govern the real availability of metals and minerals’. Increasing global food production and consumption is also causing a depletion of natural resources. A recent report on food waste by the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (Gustavsson et al. 2011) highlighted a global trend towards the consumption of more resourceintensive foods and increasing amounts of wasted food in affluent countries. Paradoxically, food waste exacerbates the global problem of food security because resources are being depleted while global food distribution is inequitable. In 2011, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 1.3 billion tonnes of food – approximately one-third of all food produced – was wasted at some point in the food supply chain stretching from the farm to the household (ibid.). On a per capita basis, significantly more food is wasted in the industrialised countries than in developing countries and much of this waste occurs at the consumption stage, in both retail outlets and in households. Not only is the global volume of waste increasing, it is also becoming more globally mobile. Of particular concern is the flow of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries where labour is cheap and regulatory protections for public environment and health less restrictive. While much attention has focused on the transborder flows of electronic waste, Crang et al. (2012) show that a vast array of waste products – ranging from rags to giant ships – end up in developing nations.
