2 December, 2024 | Environmental legislation, Waste Management
I am shocked that the 50th anniversary of the first environment control legislation in the 1970s, and specifically the UK’s Control of Pollution Act 1974 (CoPA) has received so little attention and celebration. So I have written a Comment piece on CoPA’s Golden Jubilee for resource.co, one of the leading online news sites read by (UK) waste and resource management professionals.
The waste and resource sector as we know it only exists due to strong and effectively enforced legislation to create a ‘level playing field’, which in principle should enable investment without fear of being undercut by lower standard facilities or indeed by waste criminals. Prior to legislation in the 1970s, the norm for collected wastes was disposal in uncontrolled or partially controlled ‘landfills’ which were often permanently on fire. As I have documented in my recent magnum opus, we have come a long way in 50 years, but we also still have a long way to go. That was illustrated starkly by the announcement in November 2024 of the closure of a UK state-of-the-art plastics recycling facility after just two years.
26 September, 2024 | Waste Management
My 2024 ISWA Publication Award for my ‘magnum opus’ was presented this week at the Gala Dinner at ISWA 2024 World Congress in Capetown. My thanks to Costas Velis for collecting the award on my behalf. The paper documents the evolution of waste and resource management over the last 50 years from my personal perspective as an involved witness, and uses that to reflect on current and future priorities.
In their citation ISWA say: ‘David emphasises the need for understanding and learning from the (past) to achieve improved (waste and resource) management around the world. The paper zooms in on three policy priorities that are critical globally: access to sustainable financing, rethinking sustainable recycling and worldwide extended producer responsibility. (In the Global South this) require(s) a people-centred approach, working with communities to provide both quality services and decent livelihoods for collection and recycling workers.’
The paper could not have been written without the work and support of the countless colleagues I have worked with over my now 50 year career – my warm thanks to you all! I have been motivated in writing this to ‘pass on the baton’ to the next generations – so please do follow ISWA’s endorsement and dip into the open access paper – I hope it gives you some inspiration.
As well as the full paper, I published a ‘taster’ version in March 2024 in the ISWA magazine Waste Management World. I struggled to squeeze 50 years of evolution since the first environmental controls over solid waste management were introduced in the 1970s, and reflections on priorities for the next decade(s), into my 50,000 word (but very accessible and readable!) contemporary witness magnum opus. I had to write a 200 word abstract, but it took me a while to prepare this short (2,500 word) ‘taster’ version. My basic thesis is that policy makers, practitioners and academics need to understand where waste and resource management has come from to plan confidently to meet future challenges and to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’. So please have a read, pass it on to colleagues and dip into the full paper!
The title of the full paper is: Learning from the past to plan for the future. An historical review of the evolution of waste and resources management 1970-2020 and reflections on priorities 2020-2030 – The perspective of an involved witness.
1 March, 2024 | Publication, Resource and waste management
As lead author of UNEP and ISWA’s original Global Waste Management Outlook (GWMO) in 2015, and a contributing author to the long-awaited follow-up, I am thrilled to welcome the publication at UNEA-6 this week of GWMO 2024: Beyond an age of waste – Turning rubbish into a resource. Warm congratulations to the lead author, Zoë Lenkiewicz, who has written a concise and engaging report which will hopefully succeed in placing municipal solid waste management firmly where it belongs on the local and international political agenda.
Zoe has summed it up brilliantly in the 300 character summary on the back cover of the easy-to-skim-read 80-page report: ‘The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 echoes the 2015 Global Waste Management Outlook’s call to action to scale up efforts to prevent waste generation; to extend adequate, safe and affordable municipal solid waste management to everyone worldwide; and to ensure that all unavoidable waste is managed safely.’ My thanks and congratulations to the patient project managers, Daniel Ternald of UNEP and Aditi Ramola of ISWA.
