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AGENDA 21, CHAPTER 21



ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF
SOLID WASTES AND SEWAGE-RELATED ISSUES





NOTE:	This is a final, advanced version of a chapter of Agenda 21, as 
adopted by the Plenary in Rio de Janeiro, on June 14, 1992.  
This document will be further edited, translated into the 
official langauges, and published by the United Nations for the 
General Assembly this autumn.





........../2



INTRODUCTION

21.1.  The incorporation of the chapter on environmentally sound management 
of solid wastes within Agenda 21 is in response to General Assembly 
resolution 44/228, section I, paragraph 3, in which the Assembly affirmed 
that the Conference should elaborate strategies and measures to halt and 
reverse the effects of environmental degradation in the context of 
increased national and international efforts to promote sustainable and 
environmentally sound development in all countries, and to section I, 
paragraph 12 (g), of the same resolution, in which the Assembly affirmed 
that environmentally sound management of wastes was among the environmental 
issues of major concern in maintaining the quality of the Earth's 
environment and especially in achieving environmentally sound and 
sustainable development in all countries.

21.2.  Programme areas included under the present chapter of Agenda 21 are 
closely related to the following programme areas of other chapters of 
Agenda 21:

	(a)	Protection of the quality and supply of fresh water resources 
(chap. 18);

	(b)	Promoting sustainable human settlement development (chap. 7);

	(c)	Protecting and promoting human health conditions (chap. 6);

	(d)	Changing consumption patterns (chap. 4).

21.3.  Solid wastes, as defined in this chapter, include all domestic 
refuse and non-hazardous wastes such as commercial and institutional 
wastes, street sweepings and construction debris.  In some countries, the 
solid wastes management system also handles human wastes such as 
night-soil, ashes from incinerators, septic tank sludge and sludge from 
sewage treatment plants.  If these wastes manifest hazardous 
characteristics they should be treated as hazardous wastes.

21.4.  Environmentally sound waste management must go beyond the mere safe 
disposal or recovery of wastes that are generated and seek to address the 
root cause of the problem by attempting to change unsustainable patterns of 
production and consumption.  This implies the application of the integrated 
life cycle management concept, which presents a unique opportunity to 
reconcile development with environmental protection.

21.5.  Accordingly, the framework for requisite action should be founded on 
a hierarchy of objectives and focused on the four major waste-related 
programme areas, as follows:

	(a)	Minimizing wastes;

	(b) 	Maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse and recycling;

	(c)	Promoting environmentally sound waste disposal and treatment;

	(d)	Extending waste service coverage.


21.6.  The four programme areas are interrelated and mutually supportive 
and must therefore be integrated in order to provide a comprehensive and 
environmentally responsive framework for managing municipal solid wastes.  
The mix and emphasis given to each of the four programme areas will vary 
according to the local socio-economic and physical conditions, rates of 
waste generation and waste composition.  All sectors of society should 
participate in all the programme areas.


PROGRAMME AREAS

A.  Minimizing wastes

Basis for action

21.7.  Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are increasing 
the quantities and variety of environmentally persistent wastes at 
unprecedented rates.  The trend could significantly increase the quantities 
of wastes produced by the end of the century and increase quantities four 
to fivefold by the year 2025.  A preventive waste management approach 
focused on changes in lifestyles and in production and consumption patterns 
offers the best chance for reversing current trends.

Objectives

21.8.  The objectives in this area are:

	(a)	To stabilize or reduce the production of wastes destined for 
final disposal, over an agreed time-frame, by formulating goals based on 
waste weight, volume and composition and to induce separation to facilitate 
waste recycling and reuse;

	(b)	To strengthen procedures for assessing waste quantity and 
composition changes for the purpose of formulating operational waste 
minimization policies utilizing economic or other instruments to induce 
beneficial modifications of production and consumption patterns.

21.9.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	By the year 2000, ensure sufficient national, regional and 
international capacity to access, process and monitor waste trend 
information and implement waste minimization policies;

	(b)	By the year 2000, have in place in all industrialized countries 
programmes to stabilize or reduce, if practicable, production of wastes 
destined for final disposal, including per capita wastes (where this 
concept applies), at the level prevailing at that date; developing 
countries as well should work towards that goal without jeopardizing their 
development prospects;

	(c)	Apply by the year 2000, in all countries, in particular in 
industrialized countries, programmes to reduce the production of 
agrochemical wastes, containers and packaging materials, which do not meet 
hazardous characteristics.


Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

21.10.  Governments should initiate programmes to achieve sustained 
minimization of waste generation.  Non-governmental organizations and 
consumer groups should be encouraged to participate in such programmes, 
which could be drawn up with the cooperation of international 
organizations, where necessary.  These programmes should, wherever 
possible, build upon existing or planned activities and should:

	(a)	Develop and strengthen national capacities in research and 
design of environmentally sound technologies, as well as adopt measures to 
reduce wastes to a minimum;

	(b)	Provide for incentives to reduce unsustainable patterns of 
production and consumption;

	(c)	Develop, where necessary, national plans to minimize waste 
generation as part of overall national development plans;

	(d)	Emphasize waste minimization considerations in procurement 
within the United Nations system.

(b)	Data and information

21.11.  Monitoring is a key prerequisite for keeping track of changes in 
waste quantity and quality and their resultant impact on health and the 
environment.  Governments, with the support of international agencies, 
should:

	(a)	Develop and apply methodologies for country-level waste 
monitoring;

	(b)	Undertake data gathering and analysis, establish national goals 
and monitor progress;

	(c)	Utilize data to assess environmental soundness of national 
waste policies as a basis for corrective action;

	(d)	Input information into global information systems.

(c)	International and regional cooperation and coordination

21.12.  The United Nations and intergovernmental organizations, with the 
collaboration of Governments, should help promote waste minimization by 
facilitating greater exchange of information, know-how and experience.  The 
following is a non-exhaustive list of specific activities that could be 
undertaken:

	(a)	Identifying, developing and harmonizing methodologies for waste 
monitoring and transferring such methodologies to countries;

	(b)	Identifying and further developing the activities of existing 
information networks on clean technologies and waste minimization;

	(c)	Undertaking periodic assessment, collating and analyzing 
country data and reporting systematically, in an appropriate United Nations 
forum, to the countries concerned;

	(d)	Reviewing the effectiveness of all waste minimization 
instruments and identifying potential new instruments that could be used 
and techniques by which they could be made operational at the country 
level.  Guidelines and codes of practice should be developed;

	(e)	Undertaking research on the social and economic impacts of 
waste minimization at the consumer level.

Means of implementation

(a)	Financial and cost evaluation

21.13.  The Conference secretariat suggests that industrialized countries 
should consider investing in waste minimization the equivalent of about 1 
per cent of the expenditures on solid wastes and sewage disposal. At 
current levels, this would amount to about $6.5 billion annually, including 
about $1.8 billion related to minimizing municipal solid wastes. Actual 
amounts would be determined by relevant municipal, provincial and national 
budget authorities based on local circumstances.

(b)	Scientific and technological means

21.14.  Waste minimization technologies and procedures will need to be 
identified and widely disseminated.  This work should be coordinated by 
national Governments, with the cooperation and collaboration of 
non-governmental organizations, research institutions and appropriate 
organizations of the United Nations, and could include the following:

	(a)	Undertaking a continuous review of the effectiveness of all 
waste minimization instruments and identifying potential new instruments 
that could be used and techniques by which instruments could be made 
operational at the country level. Guidelines and codes of practice should 
be developed;

	(b)	Promoting waste prevention and minimization as the principal 
objective of national waste management programmes;

	(c)	Promoting public education and a range of regulatory and 
non-regulatory incentives to encourage industry to change product design 
and reduce industrial process wastes through cleaner production 
technologies and good housekeeping practices and to encourage industries 
and consumers to use types of packaging that can be safely reused; 

	(d)	Executing, in accordance with national capacities, 
demonstration and pilot programmes to optimize waste minimization 
instruments;

	(e)	Establishing procedures for adequate transport, storage, 
conservation and management of agricultural products, foodstuffs and other 
perishable goods in order to reduce the loss of those products, which 
results in the production of solid waste;

	(f)	Facilitating the transfer of waste-reduction technologies to 
industry, particularly in developing countries, and establishing concrete 
national standards for effluents and solid waste, taking into account, 
inter alia, raw material use and energy consumption.

(c)	Human resource development

21.15.  Human resource development for waste minimization not only should 
be targeted at professionals in the waste management sector but also should 
seek to obtain the support of citizens and industry.  Human resource 
development programmes must therefore aim to raise consciousness and 
educate and inform concerned groups and the public in general.  Countries 
should incorporate within school curricula, where appropriate, the 
principles and practices of preventing and minimizing wastes and material 
on the environmental impacts of waste.




                B.  Maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse
                    and recycling

Basis for action

21.16.  The exhaustion of traditional disposal sites, stricter 
environmental controls governing waste disposal and increasing quantities 
of more persistent wastes, particularly in industrialized countries, have 
all contributed to a rapid increase in the cost of waste disposal services.  
Costs could double or triple by the end of the decade.  Some current 
disposal practices pose a threat to the environment.  As the economics of 
waste disposal services change, waste recycling and resource recovery are 
becoming increasingly cost-effective.  Future waste management programmes 
should take maximum advantage of resource-efficient approaches to the 
control of wastes.  These activities should be carried out in conjunction 
with public education programmes.  It is important that markets for 
products from reclaimed materials be identified in the development of reuse 
and recycling programmes.

Objectives

21.17.  The objectives in this area are:

	(a)	To strengthen and increase national waste reuse and recycling 
systems;

	(b)	To create a model internal waste reuse and recycling programme 
for waste streams, including paper, within the United Nations system;

	(c)	To make available information, techniques and appropriate 
policy instruments to encourage and make operational waste reuse and 
recycling schemes.

21.18.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	By the year 2000, promote sufficient financial and 
technological capacities at the regional, national and local levels, as 
appropriate, to implement waste reuse and recycling policies and actions;

	(b)	By the year 2000, in all industrialized countries, and by the 
year 2010, in all developing countries, have a national programme, 
including, to the extent possible, targets for efficient waste reuse and 
recycling.

Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

21.19.  Governments and institutions and non-governmental organizations, 
including consumer, women's and youth groups, in collaboration with 
appropriate organizations of the United Nations system, should launch 
programmes to demonstrate and make operational enhanced waste reuse and 
recycling.  These programmes should, wherever possible, build upon existing 
or planned activities and should:

	(a)	Develop and strengthen national capacity to reuse and recycle 
an increasing proportion of wastes;

	(b)	Review and reform national waste policies to provide incentives 
for waste reuse and recycling;

	(c)	Develop and implement national plans for waste management that 
take advantage of, and give priority to, waste reuse and recycling;

	(d)	Modify existing standards or purchase specifications to avoid 
discrimination against recycled materials, taking into account the saving 
in energy and raw materials;

	(e)	Develop public education and awareness programmes to promote 
the use of recycled products.

(b)  Data and information

21.20.  Information and research is required to identify promising socially 
acceptable and cost-effective forms of waste reuse and recycling relevant 
to each country.  For example, supporting activities undertaken by national 
and local governments in collaboration with the United Nations and other 
international organizations could include:

	(a)	Undertaking an extensive review of options and techniques for 
reuse and recycling all forms of municipal solid wastes.  Policies for 
reuse and recycling should be made an integral component of national and 
local waste management programmes;

	(b)	Assessing the extent and practice of waste reuse and recycling 
operations currently undertaken and identifying ways by which these could 
be increased and supported;

	(c)	Increasing funding for research pilot programmes to test 
various options for reuse and recycling, including the use of small-scale, 
cottage-based recycling industries; compost production; treated waste-water 
irrigation; and energy recovery from wastes;

	(d)	Producing guidelines and best practices for waste reuse and 
recycling;

	(e)	Intensifying efforts, at collecting, analyzing and 
disseminating, to key target groups, relevant information on waste issues.  
Special research grants could be made available on a competitive basis for 
innovative research projects on recycling techniques;

	(f)	Identifying potential markets for recycled products.

(c)  International and regional cooperation and coordination

21.21.  States, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including 
through the United Nations and other relevant international organizations, 
as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Undertake a periodic review of the extent to which countries 
reuse and recycle their wastes;

	(b)	Review the effectiveness of techniques for and approaches to 
waste reuse and recycling and ways of enhancing their application in 
countries;

	(c)	Review and update international guidelines for the safe reuse 
of wastes;

	(d)	Establish appropriate programmes to support small communities' 
waste reuse and recycling industries in developing countries.



Means of implementation

(a)	Financial and cost evaluation

21.22.  The Conference secretariat has estimated that if the equivalent of 
1 per cent of waste-related municipal expenditures was devoted to safe 
waste reuse schemes, world-wide expenditures for this purpose would amount 
to $8 billion. The secretariat estimates the total annual cost (1993-2000) 
of implementing the activities of this programme area in developing 
countries to be about $850 million on grant or concessional terms. These 
are indicative and order of magnitude estimates only and have not been 
reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any 
that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific 
programmes proposed by international institutions and approved by their 
governing bodies.

(b)	Scientific and technological means

21.23.  The transfer of technology should support waste recycling and reuse 
by the following means:

	(a)	Including the transfer of recycling technologies, such as 
machinery for reusing plastics, rubber and paper, within bilateral and 
multilateral technical cooperation and aid programmes;

	(b)	Developing and improving existing technologies, especially 
indigenous technologies, and facilitating their transfer under ongoing 
regional and interregional technical assistance programmes;

	(c)	Facilitating the transfer of waste reuse and recycling 
technology.

21.24.  Incentives for waste reuse and recycling are numerous.  Countries 
could consider the following options to encourage industry, institutions, 
commercial establishments and individuals to recycle wastes instead of 
disposing of them:

	(a)	Offering incentives to local and municipal authorities that 
recycle the maximum proportion of their wastes;

	(b)	Providing technical assistance to informal waste reuse and 
recycling operations;

	(c)	Applying economic and regulatory instruments, including tax 
incentives, to support the principle that generators of wastes pay for 
their disposal;

	(d)	Providing legal and economic conditions conducive to 
investments in waste reuse and recycling;
	(e)	Implementing specific mechanisms such as deposit/refund systems 
as incentives for reuse and recycling;

	(f)	Promoting the separate collection of recyclable parts of 
household wastes;

	(g)	Providing incentives to improve the marketability of 
technically recyclable waste;

	(h)	Encouraging the use of recyclable materials, particularly in 
packaging, where feasible;

	(i)	Encouraging the development of markets for recycled goods by 
establishing programmes.

(c)	Human resource development

21.25.  Training will be required to reorient current waste management 
practices to include waste reuse and recycling.  Governments, in 
collaboration with United Nations international and regional organizations, 
should undertake the following indicative list of actions:

	(a)	Including waste reuse and recycling in in-service training 
programmes as integral components of technical cooperation programmes on 
urban management and infrastructure development;

	(b)	Expanding training programmes on water supply and sanitation to 
incorporate techniques and policies for waste reuse and recycling;

	(c)	Including the advantages and civic obligations associated with 
waste reuse and recycling in school curricula and relevant general 
educational courses;

	(d)	Encouraging non-governmental organizations, community-based 
organizations and women's, youth and public interest group programmes, in 
collaboration with local municipal authorities, to mobilize community 
support for waste reuse and recycling through focused community-level 
campaigns.

(d)	Capacity-building

21.26.  Capacity-building to support increased waste reuse and recycling 
should focus on the following areas:

	(a)	Making operational national policies and incentives for waste 
management;

	(b)	Enabling local and municipal authorities to mobilize community 
support for waste reuse and recycling by involving and assisting informal 
sector waste reuse and recycling operations and undertaking waste 
management planning that incorporates resource recovery practices.


               C.  Promoting environmentally sound waste disposal
                   and treatment

Basis for action

21.27.  Even when wastes are minimized, some wastes will still remain.  
Even after treatment, all discharges of wastes have some residual impact on 
the receiving environment.  Consequently, there is scope for improving 
waste treatment and disposal practices such as, for example, avoiding the 
discharge of sludges at sea.  In developing countries, the problem is of a 
more fundamental nature:  less than 10 per cent of urban wastes receive 
some form of treatment and only a small proportion of treatment is in 
compliance with any acceptable quality standard.  Faecal matter treatment 
and disposal should be accorded due priority given the potential threat of 
faeces to human health.

Objectives

21.28.  The objective in this area is to treat and safely dispose of a 
progressively increasing proportion of the generated wastes.

21.29.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	By the year 2000, establish waste treatment and disposal 
quality criteria, objectives and standards based on the nature and 
assimilative capacity of the receiving environment;

	(b)	By the year 2000, establish sufficient capacity to undertake 
waste-related pollution impact monitoring and conduct regular surveillance, 
including epidemiological surveillance, where appropriate;

	(c)	By the year 1995, in industrialized countries, and by the year 
2005, in developing countries, ensure that at least 50 per cent of all 
sewage, waste waters and solid wastes are treated or disposed of in 
conformity with national or international environmental and health quality 
guidelines;

	(d)	By the year 2025, dispose of all sewage, waste waters and solid 
wastes in conformity with national or international environmental quality 
guidelines.




Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

21.30.  Governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations, 
together with industries, in collaboration with appropriate organizations 
of the United Nations system, should launch programmes to improve the 
control and management of waste-related pollution.  These programmes 
should, wherever possible, build upon existing or planned activities and 
should:

	(a)	Develop and strengthen national capacity to treat and safely 
dispose of wastes;

	(b)	Review and reform national waste management policies to gain 
control over waste-related pollution;

	(c)	Encourage countries to seek waste disposal solutions within 
their sovereign territory and as close as possible to the sources of origin 
that are compatible with environmentally sound and efficient management.  
In a number of countries, transboundary movements take place to ensure that 
wastes are managed in an environmentally sound and efficient way.  Such 
movements observe the relevant conventions, including those that apply to 
areas that are not under national jurisdiction;

	(d)	Develop human wastes management plans, giving due attention to 
the development and application of appropriate technologies and the 
availability of resources for implementation.

(b)	Data and information

21.31.  Standard setting and monitoring are two key elements essential for 
gaining control over waste-related pollution.  The following specific 
activities are indicative of the kind of supportive actions that could be 
taken by international bodies such as the United Nations Centre for Human 
Settlements (Habitat), the United Nations Environment Programme and the 
World Health Organization:

	(a)	Assembling and analyzing the scientific evidence and pollution 
impacts of wastes in the environment in order to formulate and disseminate 
recommended scientific criteria and guidelines for the environmentally 
sound management of solid wastes;

	(b)	Recommending national and, where relevant, local environmental 
quality standards based on scientific criteria and guidelines;

	(c)	Including within technical cooperation programmes and 
agreements the provision for monitoring equipment and for the requisite 
training in its use;

	(d)	Establishing an information clearing-house with extensive 
networks at the regional, national and local levels to collect and 
disseminate information on all aspects of waste management, including safe 
disposal.

(c)	International and regional cooperation and coordination

21.32.  States, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including 
through the United Nations and other relevant international organizations, 
as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Identify, develop and harmonize methodologies and environmental 
quality and health guidelines for safe waste discharge and disposal;

	(b)	Review and keep abreast of developments and disseminate 
information on the effectiveness of techniques and approaches to safe waste 
disposal and ways of supporting their application in countries.

Means of implementation

(a)	Financial and cost evaluation

21.33.  Safe waste disposal programmes are relevant to both developed and 
developing countries.  In developed countries the focus is on improving 
facilities to meet higher environmental quality criteria, while in 
developing countries considerable investment is required to build new 
treatment facilities.

21.34.  The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual 
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme in 
developing countries to be about $15 billion, including about $3.4 billion 
from the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are 
indicative and order of magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed 
by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are 
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and 
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation. 

(b)	Scientific and technological means

21.35.  Scientific guidelines and research on various aspects of 
waste-related pollution control will be crucial for achieving the 
objectives of this programme.  Governments, municipalities and local 
authorities, with appropriate international cooperation, should:

	(a)	Prepare guidelines and technical reports on subjects such as 
the integration of land-use planning in human settlements with waste 
disposal, environmental quality criteria and standards, waste treatment and 
safe disposal options, industrial waste treatment and landfill operations;

	(b)	Undertake research on critical subjects such as low-cost, 
low-maintenance waste-water treatment systems; safe sludge disposal 
options; industrial waste treatment; and low-technology, ecologically safe 
waste disposal options;

	(c)	Transfer technologies, in conformity with the terms as well as 
the provisions of chapter 34, on industrial waste treatment processes 
through  bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation programmes, and 
in cooperation with business and industry including large and transnational 
corporations, as appropriate.

	(d)	Focus on the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of 
existing facilities and technical assistance on improved maintenance 
practices and techniques followed by the planning and construction of waste 
treatment facilities;

	(e)	Establish programmes to maximize the source segregation and 
safe disposal of the hazardous components of municipal solid waste;

	(f)	Ensure the investment and provision of waste collection 
facilities with the concomitant provision of water services and with an 
equal and parallel investment and provision of waste treatment facilities.

(c)	Human resource development

21.36.  Training would be required to improve current waste management 
practices to include safe collection and waste disposal.  The following is 
an indicative list of actions that should be taken by Governments, in 
collaboration with international organizations:

	(a)	Providing both formal and in-service training, focused on 
pollution control, waste treatment and disposal technologies, and operating 
and maintaining waste-related infrastructure.  Intercountry staff exchange 
programmes should also be established;

	(b)	Undertaking the requisite training for waste-related pollution 
monitoring and control enforcement.

(d)	Capacity-building

21.37.  Institutional reforms and capacity-building will be indispensable 
if countries are to be able to quantify and mitigate waste-related 
pollution.  Activities to achieve this objective should include:

	(a)	Creating and strengthening independent environmental control 
bodies at the national and local levels.  International organizations and 
donors should support needed upgrading of manpower skills and provision of 
equipment;

	(b)	Empowering of pollution control agencies with the requisite 
legal mandate and financial capacities to carry out their duties 
effectively.

D.  Extending waste service coverage

Basis for action

21.38.  By the end of the century, over 2.0 billion people will be without 
access to basic sanitation, and an estimated half of the urban population 
in developing countries will be without adequate solid waste disposal 
services.  As many as 5.2 million people, including 4 million children 
under five years of age, die each year from waste-related diseases. The 
health impacts are particularly severe for the urban poor.  The health and 
environmental impacts of inadequate waste management, however, go beyond 
the unserved settlements themselves and result in water, land and air 
contamination and pollution over a wider area.  Extending and improving 
waste collection and safe disposal services are crucial to gaining control 
over this form of pollution.

Objectives

21.39.  The overall objective of this programme is to provide 
health-protecting, environmentally safe waste collection and disposal 
services to all people.  Governments, according to their capacities and 
available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and 
other relevant organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	By the year 2000, have the necessary technical, financial and 
human resource capacity to provide waste collection services commensurate 
with needs;

	(b)	By the year 2025, provide all urban populations with adequate 
waste services;

	(c)	By the year 2025, ensure that full urban waste service coverage 
is maintained and sanitation coverage achieved in all rural areas.

Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

21.40.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Establish financing mechanisms for waste management service 
development in deprived areas, including appropriate modes of revenue 
generation;

	(b)	Apply the "polluter pays" principle, where appropriate, by 
setting waste management charges at rates that reflect the costs of 
providing the service and ensure that those who generate the wastes pay the 
full cost of disposal in an environmentally safe way;
	(c)	Encourage institutionalization of communities' participation in 
planning and implementation procedures for solid waste management.

(b)	Data and information

21.41.  Governments, in collaboration with the United Nations and 
international organizations, should undertake the following:

	(a)	Developing and applying methodologies for waste monitoring;

	(b)	Data gathering and analysis to establish goals and monitor 
progress;

	(c)	Inputting information into a global information system building 
upon existing systems;

	(d)	Strengthening the activities of existing information networks 
in order to disseminate focused information on the application of 
innovative and low-cost alternatives for waste disposal to targeted 
audiences.

(c)	International and regional cooperation and coordination

21.42.  Many United Nations and bilateral programmes exist that seek to 
provide water supply and sanitation services to the unserved.  The Water 
and Sanitation Collaborative Council, a global forum, currently acts to 
coordinate development and encourage cooperation.  Even so, given the 
ever-increasing numbers of unserved urban poor populations and the need to 
address, in addition, the problem of solid waste disposal, additional 
mechanisms are essential to ensure accelerated coverage of urban waste 
disposal services.  The international community in general and selected 
United Nations organizations in particular should:

	(a)	Launch a settlement infrastructure and environment programme 
following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to 
coordinate the activities of all organizations of the United Nations system 
involved in this area and include a clearing-house for information 
dissemination on all waste management issues;

	(b)	Undertake and systematically report on progress in providing 
waste services to those without such services;

	(c)	Review the effectiveness of techniques for and approaches to 
increasing coverage and identify innovative ways of accelerating the 
process.



Means of implementation

(a)	Financial and cost evaluation

21.43.  The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual 
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be 
about $7.5 billion, including about $2.6 billion from the international 
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and order of 
magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual 
costs and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will 
depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments 
decide upon for implementation.

(b)	Scientific and technological means

21.44.  Governments and institutions, together with non-governmental 
organizations, should, in collaboration with appropriate organizations of 
the United Nations system, launch programmes in different parts of the 
developing world to extend waste services to the unserved populations.  
These programmes should, wherever possible, build upon and reorient 
existing or planned activities.

21.45.  Policy changes at the national and local levels could enhance the 
rate of waste service coverage extension.  These changes should include the 
following:

	(a)	Giving full recognition to and using the full range of low-cost 
options for waste management, including, where appropriate, their 
institutionalization and incorporation within codes of practice and 
regulation;

	(b)	Assigning high priority to the extension of waste management 
services, as necessary and appropriate, to all settlements irrespective of 
their legal status, giving due emphasis to meeting the waste disposal needs 
of the unserved, especially the unserved urban poor;

	(c)	Integrating the provision and maintenance of waste management 
services with other basic services such as water-supply and storm-water 
drainage.

21.46.  Research activities could be enhanced.  Countries, in cooperation 
with appropriate international organizations and non-governmental 
organizations, should, for instance:

	(a)	Find solutions and equipment for managing wastes in areas of 
concentrated populations and on small islands.  In particular, there is a 
need for appropriate refuse storage and collection systems and 
cost-effective and hygienic human waste disposal options;

	(b)	Prepare and disseminate guidelines, case-studies, policy 
reviews and technical reports on appropriate solutions and modes of service 
delivery to unserved low-income areas;

	(c)	Launch campaigns to encourage active community participation 
involving women's and youth groups in the management of waste, particularly 
household waste;

	(d)	Promote intercountry transfer of relevant technologies, 
especially technologies for high-density settlements.

(c)	Human resource development

21.47.  International organizations and national and local Governments, in 
collaboration with non-governmental organizations, should provide focused 
training on low-cost waste collection and disposal options, particularly 
techniques for their planning and delivery. Intercountry staff exchange 
programmes among developing countries could form part of such training.  
Particular attention should be given to upgrading the status and skills of 
management-level personnel in waste management agencies.

21.48.  Improvements in management techniques are likely to yield the 
greatest returns in terms of improving waste management service efficiency.  
The United Nations, international organizations and financial institutions 
should, in collaboration with national and local Governments, develop and 
render operational management information systems for municipal record 
keeping and accounting and for efficiency and effectiveness assessment.

(d)	Capacity-building

21.49.  Governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations, with 
the collaboration of appropriate organizations of the United Nations 
system, should develop capacities to implement programmes to provide waste 
collection and disposal services to the unserved populations.  Some 
activities under the programmes should include the following:

	(a)	Establishing a special unit within current institutional 
arrangements to plan and deliver services to the unserved poor communities, 
with their involvement and participation;

	(b)	Making revisions to existing codes and regulations to permit 
the use of the full range of low-cost alternative technologies for waste 
disposal;

	(c)	Building institutional capacity and developing procedures for 
undertaking service planning and delivery.

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