Publication: Building a Future for Women in South Asia’s Plastics Waste Management
Loading...
Published
2023-10-10
ISSN
Date
2023-10-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report focuses on the role of key stakeholders (policy makers, waste management practitioners, civil society, informal workers’ organizations, and the private sector) in contributing to pollution reduction in South Asia while also enhancing livelihood prospects for informal waste workers—the most vulnerable of whom tend to be women. The report also demonstrates how reducing pollution and enhancing livelihood prospects are commercially sound strategies for companies and investors. Through examining the role of women in South Asia’s plastic waste management systems and the challenges they face the report provides recommendations for collaborative action to improve and safeguard women’s livelihoods in this sector More specifically, it examines the role of women in South Asia’s plastic waste management systems and the challenges they face and provides recommendations for collaborative action to improve and safeguard women’s livelihoods in this sector. Plastic pollution requires ‘upstream’ (waste prevention, such as reuse and repair) and ‘downstream’ (waste management, including recycling) solutions (Pew and SYSTEMIQ 2020). Upstream and downstream solutions fall under the broad definition of ‘materials management’. The report focuses primarily on the ‘downstream’ aspect and key vulnerable actors, who face an imminent threat of displacement, but highlights the need to better understand and engage with vulnerable actors within upstream solutions as well.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank; International Finance Corporation. 2023. Building a Future for Women in South Asia’s Plastics Waste Management. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40447 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Impact of COVID-19 on Plastic Waste Management in South Asia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09)This report is part of a larger series of stocktaking and analytical products on plastic pollution in South Asia. It supports the Bank’s commitment to work with countries of South Asia to pursue and scale-up policies and programs that help them move toward a circular plastic economy and, in partnership with civil society and the private sector, harnesses the power of innovation to bring viable and sustainable solutions for plastic waste reduction and management across the region. This report is supported through the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI), a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank and designed to build a shared understanding of transboundary river pollution flows in South Asia, especially plastics pollution.Publication Behavioral Insights for Plastic Waste Management in Bangladesh(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-03)Plastic pollution is a major challenge in Bangladesh, with annual per capita plastic consumption in urban areas tripling from 2005 to 2020. The increased use of plastics, especially single-use plastics (SUPs), combined with inadequate waste management, has resulted in a large amount of plastic leakage into the environment with implications for the environment and human health. This report presents the findings of two studies - one in Cox’s Bazar and the other in Dhaka -which were conducted to support the implementation of the Action Plan. The consultations and in depth interviews for both studies were conducted during September to November of 2022. The objective of these studies was to gain insights into the perceptions and behavior of stakeholders in both locations with regards to plastic usage and waste management. This report presents the findings of two studies - one in Cox’s Bazar and the other in Dhak - which were conducted to support the implementation of the Action Plan. The consultations and in depth interviews for both studies were conducted during September to November of 2022. The objective of these studies was to gain insights into the perceptions and behavior of stakeholders in both locations with regards to plastic usage and waste management. The findings of the studies reveal a relatively high level of public awareness regarding the negative impacts of SUPs on both the environment and human health. In conclusion, the findings of the studies in Cox’s Bazar and Dhaka indicate that the effective reduction of SUP usage and improved plastic waste management practices need a more integrated and targeted approach, involving stakeholders at various levels.Publication Solid Waste Management Holistic Decision Modeling(Washington, DC, 2008-06)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 Brazil Low Carbon Case Study : Waste(Washington, DC, 2010)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)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.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23)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.