Current Situation and Challenges of Waste Management in Thailand

Thailand covers an area of 513,120 km2 and is located in the southern region of the continent of Asia. The total population was around 67.2 million in 2016. With increasing population growth, city expansion and rapid industrialization, generated 27.37 tonnes of waste in 2017. Thailand government has recognized problems associated with solid, hazardous, and electronic waste generation and issued policies/regulations to support the waste management system. Initiatives such as roadmap for municipal and hazardous waste, national master plan on cleaner production and cleaner technology, and national integrated e-waste management strategy have been introduced to improve the waste management system. However, there are many issues preventing the implementation of a successful waste management system in Thailand. Society has suffered from waste mismanagement because of lack of awareness and realistically applicable technology. There are also weaknesses in the processes of public participation, policy implementation, and institutional support.

Solid Waste Management in the Republic of Serbia

In most of the countries of South East Europe, the current situation in the field of municipal waste management is characterized by unreliable and incomplete data about the physical characteristics of generated municipal waste. The first and the second part of the chapter contain the description of specific project activities that are related to measuring quantity and composition of municipal waste in municipalities in the Republic of Serbia. The methodology description for the determination of the quantity and composition of waste is analyzed in this chapter. The potential of implementing the circular economy concept in developing countries is reflected primarily in the optimization of production and industrial activities; the example of Serbia in the third part of chapter shows the opposite. In the fourth part, results of application of the AHP method are presented. Taking the obtained results as a basis, it can be concluded that the applied model can be efficiently used to support decision-making in this kind of problem.

Waste Management Under the Legal Framework in India

India, the second biggest country in the world, has nearly 1.25 million people living in 29 states and seven union territories covering an area of 3,287,000 sq. km. India's economy grew at an impressive 8.2% in the first quarter of 2018-19. Traditionally, India has the habit of reuse and recycling the materials wherever possible. As the city agglomeration is increasing the waste generation is increasing. The number of towns/cities have increased from 5,161 in 2001 to 7,935 in 2011, whereas the number of metropolitan cities having million plus population has increased from 35 to 53 number as per 2011 census. It is projected that half of India's population will live in cities by 2050. Waste management in India has been experiencing a paradigm shift through the establishment of Swachh Bharat Mission in urban and rural India in 2014 and the revision and establishment of waste management rules in six types of wastes including transboundary movement in 2016. This study presents the overall waste management scenario and the legal framework in India.

Solid Waste Management in Cambodia

Driven by economic development, population growth, change in life style, and consumption patterns, Cambodia is faced with equally rapid increase of solid waste, with MSW disposal amount attaining 1,709,379 tons/year in 2018. Various policy instruments and legislations have been developed over the years in response to this long-existing crisis, which effectively translated into tangible improvements on the ground. But municipalities continue to suffer from weak waste management system including collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal. Resource recovery almost entirely depends on informal sector while efforts for reduce and reuse are still weak, while presenting vast opportunity if effective policies are employed and implemented. The ongoing governance reform involving functional decentralization of waste management service is being implemented although at a slow pace.

Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Bangladesh

Solid waste management is a grave concern for Bangladesh as by 2025 waste generation per capita will be 0.75 kg/capita/day and total amount of waste will reach 21.07 million tons per year. This chapter attempts to uncover the facts regarding waste management along with the policies and regulations existing in Bangladesh by reviewing published secondary documents. The chapter also contains emerging issues of agricultural, industrial, hazardous, construction, and electronic generation and 3R practices in Bangladesh. Legal instruments for waste management in Bangladesh are also examined. It has been found that enforcing authorities lack the capacity to implement their strategies regarding 3R practices for waste management. Case studies about community-based approach, waste recycling sector, and medical waste management have been exemplified in this chapter. Finally, the authors apprised the issues and challenges of sustainable solid waste management practices and proposed the way forward for Bangladesh to have sustainable solid waste management.

Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Argentina

A general picture of waste management in Argentina is presented, taking into consideration the obligations of the state to guarantee the collection of household waste and to dispose of it in authorized sites and the generator's responsibility on the management of hazardous waste. Separate boxes are presented to present the activities performed by organized waste pickers and by CEAMSE, a state-owned company responsible for waste disposition in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. Waste management is essential for a sustainable development agenda. As witnessed in Argentina, this requires (1) closing open dumpsites, (2) a reliable and complete waste collection service, and (3) proper treatment of all waste streams. It is thus clear the need to (1) promote a circular economy; (2) tackle the management of organic waste; (3) ensure the adequate control and treatment of hazardous waste; (4) promote a suitable set of policies, regulations, and economic instruments; (5) select the best available technologies; and (6) formalize the informal phase of recycling.

Solid Waste Management in Rwanda

This chapter aims to describe the status and challenges of waste management (WM) in Rwanda. Currently, waste is managed by the Ministry of Local Government, with the participation of private companies which are only in charge of waste collection. In the city of Kigali, waste is managed by the city of Kigali whereas in other four remaining provinces waste is managed by the districts. Implementation of waste management policy is carried out by a government-owned company called Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) Ltd. The per capita solid waste generation rate in the city of Kigali is equal to 0.57 kg/person/day. A lot of legislations and regulations on WM are in place but their enforcement is weak. The Government of Rwanda should do more in terms of enforcing WM legislations and regulations.

Waste Management in Developing Countries

This chapter summarizes and compares the current situation of waste management practices in developing countries as reported in other chapters of this book. Due to increasing rate of urbanization, population, and economic growth, generation of waste is also on the rise. It further makes the waste management situation trickier for developing countries as effective regulations and policies are either lacking or their stringent enforcement is absent. Thus, it leads to major issues of inefficient waste collection, open dumping, open burning, and over-reliance on landfilling. It was also discovered that holistic approach of all relevant stakeholders from governmental level to waste generators level is glaringly missing in most of the developing countries. At the end of the chapter, several recommendations are presented to overcome the challenges.

Municipal Waste Management in Turkey

Due to geographical position at the crossroads between Middle East and Asia and Europe, Turkey has a significant role for neighbor developing countries in terms of economical and social growth. Since solid waste management system mainly depends on these factors, Turkey has been always comprehensive model for many developing countries with its management system. This chapter, consisting of eight sub-sections, evaluates the management of municipal solid waste in Turkey with current data from the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and provides an overview of the development of waste management practices in Turkey. In addition to the future perspectives and planning, the current status, waste amount, waste characteristics, prevention studies, recycling and re-use applications, collection, treatment and disposal applications of municipal wastes, packaging wastes, and medical wastes are reported in this chapter.

Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries

Resilient economic urbanisation growth in Tanzania signifies national increasing trend of solid waste generation that necessitates proper management. About 50% of Tanzanians suffer from intestinal schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminths resulting from haphazard solid waste disposal. Various efforts to address solid waste management in Tanzania include establishment of public private partnership and major reforms in policy and regulatory frameworks. Despite these efforts, 60% of waste generated is mismanaged and normally disposed in illegal places along roadsides, sewage canals, and reserved open spaces. Cornerstone of proper solid waste management lies on separation of the waste at source. It is recommended that ‘the smart garbage collection bin' be adopted at community collection points and charging higher prices for generators who do not separate the waste.