Publication:
What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files
Full Book (10.6 MB)
295,308 downloads
Overview (6.6 MB)
88,967 downloads
Published
2018-09-20
ISSN
Date
2018-08-31
Author(s)
Kaza, Silpa
Yao, Lisa C.
Van Woerden, Frank
Editor(s)
Abstract
By 2050, the world is expected to generate 3.40 billion tons of waste annually, increasing drastically from today’s 2.01 billion tons. What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 aggregates extensive solid waste data at the national and urban levels. It estimates and projects waste generation to 2030 and 2050. Beyond the core data metrics from waste generation to disposal, the report provides information on waste management costs, revenues, and tariffs; special wastes; regulations; public communication; administrative and operational models; and the informal sector.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Kaza, Silpa; Yao, Lisa C.; Bhada-Tata, Perinaz; Van Woerden, Frank. 2018. What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050. Urban Development;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30317 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    What a Waste : A Global Review of Solid Waste Management
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-03) Hoornweg, Daniel; Bhada-Tata, Perinaz
    Solid waste management is the one thing just about every city government provides for its residents. While service levels, environmental impacts and costs vary dramatically, solid waste management is arguably the most important municipal service and serves as a prerequisite for other municipal action. As the world hurtles toward its urban future, the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW), one of the most important by-products of an urban lifestyle, is growing even faster than the rate of urbanization. Ten years ago there were 2.9 billion urban residents who generated about 0.64 kg of MSW per person per day (0.68 billion tonnes per year). This report estimates that today these amounts have increased to about 3 billion residents generating 1.2 kg per person per day (1.3 billion tonnes per year). By 2025 this will likely increase to 4.3 billion urban residents generating about 1.42 kg/capita/day of municipal solid waste (2.2 billion tonnes per year).
  • Publication
    Brazil Low Carbon Case Study : Waste
    (Washington, DC, 2010) World Bank
    This report synthesis the findings for the waste sector of a broader study, the Brazil low carbon study, which was undertaken by the World Bank in its initiative to support Brazil's integrated effort towards reducing national and global emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) while promoting long term development. The purpose of the present report is to assist in the preparation of public policy proposals regarding GHG emissions and the additional financial resources necessary. The main purpose of the scenarios is to provide an evaluation of the GHG emissions arising from the different approaches and methods for treating waste and to ensure that important environmental aspects are taken into account when key decisions are being made on the waste treatment technologies to be applied in Brazil. The World Bank and covers four key areas with large potential for low-carbon options: 1) Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF), including deforestation; 2) transport systems; 3) energy production and use, particularly electricity, oil and gas and bio-fuels; and 4) solid and liquid urban waste.
  • Publication
    Improving Municipal Solid Waste Management in India : A Sourcebook for Policy Makers and Practitioners
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008) Asnani, P. U.; Zhu, Da; Zurbrügg, Chris; Mani, Shyamala; Anapolsky, Sebastian
    Human activities create waste, and the ways that waste is handled, stored, collected, and disposed of can pose risks to the environment and to public health. Solid waste management (SWM) includes all activities that seek to minimize health, environmental, and aesthetic impacts of solid waste. In urban areas, especially in the rapidly urbanizing cities of the developing world, problems and issues of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) are of immediate importance. This book addresses the problem by focusing on India. A country such as India, with its high economic growth and rapid urbanization, requires immediate solutions to the problems related to mismanagement of urban waste. City managers are actively trying to understand the problem and are seeking effective ways of intervening. They realize that such interventions are essential to improving the quality of their cities and to reducing adverse health and environmental impacts. For cities to be sustainable and to continue their economic development, they must be clean and healthy. They need to improve their SWM systems by adopting good collection coverage, appropriate transfer methods, and healthy disposal practices.
  • Publication
    Solid Waste Management Holistic Decision Modeling
    (Washington, DC, 2008-06) World Bank
    This study provides support to the Bank's ability to conduct client dialogue on solid waste management technology selection, and will contribute to client decision-making. The goal of the study was to fully explore the use of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Research Triangle Institute (EPA/RTI) holistic decision model to study alternative solid waste systems in a wide array of waste management conditions, using data collected from cities selected in each region of the world. Seven cities were selected from the different regions of development countries served by the World Bank. Their data was considered to be competent, and they cooperated with the study teams. They were: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Conakry, Guinea; Shanghai, China; Kathmandu, Nepal; Lahore, Pakistan; Amman, Jordan; and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. These cities represented a range of economic development factors, income, commercial, and industrial activity, in addition to their different physical settings and climate conditions. The cities were selected to see how such divergent variables would affect the outcome of the modeling analysis. Each of the selected cities is one of the largest within its country. In addition to the 7 target cities from developing countries, Kawasaki, Japan, and Atlanta, Georgia, were selected for comparative purposes. The resulting scenarios for each city, and cities in comparison to others, are shown in detail. While this report found the level of analysis adequate to indicate how technologies and scenarios compare, more detail would be required for deciding on the most cost-effective technology. The results of this study can be considered a useful guide for many cities, in understanding the waste disposal options most appropriate to their conditions.
  • Publication
    Decision Maker’s Guides for Solid Waste Management Technologies
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-09) Kaza, Silpa; Bhada-Tata, Perinaz
    The Decision Maker’s Guides for Solid Waste Management Technologies were created to help mayors and decision makers understand the various technologies and when they would be appropriate based on local circumstances. Mayors are often approached by different solid waste management technology vendors and these guides aim to provide objective guidance and critical considerations. They offer insights into implementing environmentally sound treatment and disposal solutions. The guides include: (i) A basic description of what each technology is and how it works; (ii) Key considerations when thinking about pursuing a specific technology; (iii) Financial implications and suggestions for reducing and recovering costs; (iv) Examples of where the technology has succeeded and failed; and (v) Questions to ask the solid waste vendor to assess appropriateness of the technology and vendor for the local context.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02-12) Terraza, Horacio; Orlando, Maria Beatriz; Lakovits, Carina; Lopes Janik, Vanessa; Kalashyan, Anna
    Urban planning and design quite literally shape the environment around us — and that environment, in turn, shapes how we live, work, play, move, and rest. This handbook aims to illuminate the relationships between gender inequality, the built environment, and urban planning and design; and to lay out a menu of simple, practicable processes and best practices for urban planning and design projects that build more inclusive cities – for men and women, for those with disabilities, and for those who are marginalized and excluded.
  • Publication
    State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-21) World Bank
    This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national, and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments and some of the drivers seen over the past year. Specifically, this report covers carbon taxes, emissions trading systems (ETSs), and crediting mechanisms. Key topics covered in the 2024 report include uptake of ETSs and carbon taxes in low- and middle- income economies, sectoral coverage of ETSs and carbon taxes, and the use of crediting mechanisms as part of the policy mix.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, January 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16) World Bank
    Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.
  • Publication
    Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23) Belacin, Matias; Iacovone, Leonardo; Izvorski, Ivailo; Kasyanenko, Sergiy
    Business dynamism and economic growth in Europe and Central Asia have weakened since the late 2000s, with productivity growth driven largely by resource reallocation between firms and sectors rather than innovation. To move up the value chain, countries need to facilitate technology adoption, stronger domestic competition, and firm-level innovation to build a more dynamic private sector. Governments should move beyond broad support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and focus on enabling the most productive firms to expand and compete globally. Strengthening competition policies, reducing the presence of state-owned enterprises, and ensuring fair market access are crucial. Limited availability of long-term financing and risk capital hinders firm growth and innovation. Economic disruptions are a shock in the short term, but they provide an opportunity for implementing enterprise and structural reforms, all of which are essential for creating better-paying jobs and helping countries in the region to achieve high-income status.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, June 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-06-06) World Bank
    Global growth is projected to slow significantly in the second half of this year, with weakness continuing in 2024. Inflation pressures persist, and tight monetary policy is expected to weigh substantially on activity. The possibility of more widespread bank turmoil and tighter monetary policy could result in even weaker global growth. Rising borrowing costs in advanced economies could lead to financial dislocations in the more vulnerable emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). In low-income countries, in particular, fiscal positions are increasingly precarious. Comprehensive policy action is needed at the global and national levels to foster macroeconomic and financial stability. Among many EMDEs, and especially in low-income countries, bolstering fiscal sustainability will require generating higher revenues, making spending more efficient, and improving debt management practices. Continued international cooperation is also necessary to tackle climate change, support populations affected by crises and hunger, and provide debt relief where needed. In the longer term, reversing a projected decline in EMDE potential growth will require reforms to bolster physical and human capital and labor-supply growth.