UNEA-6: Over a third of global population living with solid waste, reveals report

UNEA-6: Over a third of global population living with solid waste, reveals report

Subject: Environment

Section: Int conventions

Report title:  Turning rubbish into a resource: Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 (GWMO 2024)

Published by: UNEP

Presented during: The Sixth United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi.

Key points from the report on global waste management:

• Over a third of the world’s population, approximately 2.7 billion people, primarily in the Global South and developing regions, lack access to waste collection services.
• Of these, 2 billion reside in rural areas, while 700,000 are in urban settings.
• The report reveals that around 540 million tonnes of municipal solid waste, representing 27% of the global total, are not collected. Collection rates are particularly low in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South Asia, with only 36% and 37% of waste being collected, respectively.
• In contrast, developed and upper-middle-income regions have much higher waste collection rates, ranging from 83% in the Caribbean to 99% in North America, compared to the global average of 75%.
• The report projects a significant increase in global waste generation from 2.3 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050, exacerbating the challenge of waste management.
• The direct global cost of waste management in 2020 was estimated at $252 billion, with the cost rising to $361 billion when including the hidden expenses related to pollution, health issues, and climate change due to inadequate waste disposal practices.
• The report warns that without urgent action on waste management, the global annual cost could nearly double by 2050, reaching $640.3 billion. However, effective waste management could significantly reduce these costs to $270.2 billion annually by 2050.
• It highlights the potential of adopting a circular economy model to not only mitigate waste generation but also to achieve a net gain of $108.5 billion per year.
• No country has yet successfully separated development from waste generation, emphasizing the ongoing threat waste poses to ecosystems and its contribution to climate change, with the threat expected to double by 2050.

Source: DTE