Billions of tons of untreated rubbish is suffocating Earth

Tepic – Global waste could grow by 70% by 2050 as ur- banisation and populations rise, said the World Bank, with South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa set to generate the most rubbish.

Countries could reap economic and environmental benefits by better collecting, recycling and disposing of trash, according to a report, which calculated that a third of the world’s waste is instead dumped with no treatment.

“By 2050, South Asia’s waste will double, sub-Saharan Africa’s waste will triple,” said Silpa Kaza, World Bank urban development specialist and report lead author.

“If we don’t take any action, it could have quite significant implications for health, productivity, environment, livelihoods,” she said.

The rise in rubbish will outstrip population growth, reaching 3.4 billion tons by 2050, from around 2 billion tons in 2016, according to the report.

High-income countries produce a third of the world’s waste, despite having only 16% of world’s population, while a quarter comes from East Asia and the Pacific regions, it said.

While more than a third of waste globally ends up in landfill, over 90% is dumped openly in lower-income countries that often lack adequate disposal and treatment facilities, said the report.

Adequate financing for collection and disposal is one of the biggest issues for cities that often struggle to cover the costs of providing waste services, said Kaza.

“If the incentives are aligned, the private sector can be a really powerful player,” she said. Boosting recycling and cutting plastics consumption along with food waste could help reduce rubbish, said the report. –