Wherever people live or spend time, waste is generated. How we deal with waste, and therefore also our behaviour in the preceding processes such as purchasing decisions and product selection, is directly linked to the three global crises: environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.

The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), once again highlights the situation and its potential consequences.

Despite all efforts, the situation regarding municipal waste has deteriorated over the last 10 years. Billions of people still live without a waste management system. In many parts of the world, waste disposal is largely uncontrolled. Waste from open landfills and incineration has negative and long-lasting effects on health and the environment.

The types of municipal waste (food waste, plastic waste, electronic waste, etc.) are as diverse as their negative effects.

• Every year, between 400,000 and 1 million people die from diseases caused by improper waste disposal.
• Improper waste disposal allows hazardous chemicals to enter the soil, water and air. There, they cause long-term, potentially irreversible damage to local flora and fauna, which has a negative impact on biodiversity.
• The transport, processing and disposal of waste cause CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases as well as air pollutants that contribute to climate change

The issue and problem of municipal waste is difficult to quantify. This is because the overall system is uncontrolled and therefore difficult to measure. Nevertheless, there are some numerical forecasts and scenarios, but their results should be viewed as relatively reliable.

The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 takes a closer look at the following three scenarios and assesses their impact on biodiversity, human health and greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse gas emissions are crucial for global warming and the associated climate change. The goal is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.

As the chart shows, greenhouse gas emissions from transport, waste processing and disposal are expected to increase by 91 percent by 2050 (compared to the reference year 2020) if no further measures are taken by the global community (scenario 1 - Waste Management as usual).

If waste generation is stabilised and waste disposal is systematically improved (scenario 2 - Waste Management under Control), emissions from waste can be reduced by 5 percent by 2030 and by 69 percent by 2050 compared to the reference year and value for 2020.

Scenario 3 (Curuclar Economy)  takes into account a sustainable economic and resource model in which the materials used remain in the recycling cycle for as long as possible and greenhouse gases are prevented or at least significantly reduced during their production and disposal.

In scenario 3, a 105 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from waste compared to the reference value from 2020 would be expected. Even this positive development in this scenario does not lead to zero emissions from waste.

You can read more about this topic and what the scenarios predict in terms of human health and our ecosystem by clicking on the link below, which will take you to the Global Waste Management Outlook 2024.