<p>Sweden is a long-term world reference country in terms of sustainable development. On the other hand, Barcelona has recently made great efforts in order to improve and to make society aware of the importance of environmental issues. Hence, it would be interesting to investigate if these efforts had succeeded in the waste’s management in Barcelona compared to other leading European cities, and particularly to the case of Gävle.</p><p>In this work, the operation of the management of the urban solid wastes of the two cities is explained.</p><p>First, the objectives marked by Agenda 21 of each locality are exposed. Next, a theoretical perspective about management, generation of wastes and types of waste treatment is provided. In the following chapter, the results of the generation of wastes, selective collection and the treatments of the wastes are shown for both the cases of Barcelona and Gävle until the 2006.</p><p>Finally, the two cities are compared and the results obtained in the management of the wastes are discussed.</p><p>The conclusion in this study is that Barcelona has improved noticeable in terms of environmentally safe management of the wastes. This has happened thanks to the efforts of the city council and of the citizens.</p><p>But It is still necessary to make a major effort by the inhabitants of Barcelona.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>It is estimated that up to 2 percent of the population in Third World countries survives on waste in one way or another. In Mexico City alone there exist 15,000 garbage scavengers called Pepenadores. The poverty and marginalization they experience is utterly linked to their work, and while they do much of the hard work their socio-economic situation seems stagnant. This paper explores the complexity of the waste management system in Mexico City which keeps them in this position, and how the current system is a manifestation of the existing symbiosis between the formal and informal sectors of the city.The main characters in the maintenance of this system are the leaders of waste management associations.Their struggle to maintain their powerful positions influences both the system’s relationship to the public sector and determines the socioeconomic situation of the Pepenadores.The paper also analyzes the effects of past efforts to change the system, and how policy changes always seem to work against the Pepenadores. Efforts to help the Pepenadores escape their vulnerable positions can be successful in the short-term, but the existing social structure in Mexico City make any permanent changes difficult to achieve.</p>

This paper analyses the solid waste management (SWM) process in Nairobi, Kenya and studies the roles and actions of the actors involved in this process, putting emphasis on the role of informal actors and their relationship with the city authorities. Based on semistructured interviews and participant observation conducted on the field in Nairobi, Kenya, the results of this paper suggest that the role of informal waste collectors in the Kibera settlement is essential. In most parts of Kibera, the municipal SWM seems to be non-existent. Thus the collection and transport is often carried out by informal waste collector groups. Furthermore, the relationship between informal actors and authorities is highly complex and ambivalent. The local authorities claim to have acknowledged the important role of the informal actors; however the latter are more or less neglected by the NCC in the overall solid waste management sector.

Abstract It is estimated that up to 2 percent of the population in Third World countries survives on waste in one way or another. In Mexico City alone there exist 15,000 garbage scavengers called Pepenadores. The poverty and marginalization they experience is utterly linked to their work, and while they do much of the hard work their socio-economic situation seems stagnant. This paper explores the complexity of the waste management system in Mexico City which keeps them in this position, and how the current system is a manifestation of the existing symbiosis between the formal and informal sectors of the city.The main characters in the maintenance of this system are the leaders of waste management associations.Their struggle to maintain their powerful positions influences both the system’s relationship to the public sector and determines the socioeconomic situation of the Pepenadores.The paper also analyzes the effects of past efforts to change the system, and how policy changes always seem to work against the Pepenadores. Efforts to help the Pepenadores escape their vulnerable positions can be successful in the short-term, but the existing social structure in Mexico City make any permanent changes difficult to achieve.

The WM sector in Nairobi is a failure. Collection rates are deplorable, regulations go unenforced and the municipal landfill is desecrating the environment and killing neighbouring slum dwellers. This paper focuses on the exclusion and marginalization of the slums adjacent to Nairobi’s landfill, Korogocho and Dandora, and uses a post-structuralist theoretical framework to conceptualize a just response to these exclusions and theorize an inclusive approach to waste policy in Nairobi. Building on the work of Jacques Derrida, I present a ‘deconstructive ethic’ for development that is dedicated to mitigating and overcoming the production of alterity, and reintegrating excluded communities and knowledges into the sites of knowledge and policy creation. This ethic is used to formulate a five-part response to the conditions of exclusion experienced in Korogocho and Dandora, and to engage these populations in finding participatory solutions to the city’s waste problem.

Ongoing and potential developments with regards to solid waste management have raised concerns about well being in African cities. There is also growing concern among environmental managers, scientists, and the public that the pace and scale of human activities may lead to adverse environmental and health impacts. These concerns have been worsened by two factors: (1.) That all attempts so far made at dealing with the present situation of solid waste handling in African cities have either failed or only met with moderate success; and, (2.) There is significant economic, spiritual and cultural value placed on the city's development in Africa, therefore, a deterioration in its environment spells further difficulties for improving conditions of development. To date however, very little research has been conducted on the role local knowledge has to play in managing urban solid waste in the context of African cities. This study is a contribution on this topic, using case study cities of Accra and Kumasi in Ghana, West Africa where it was found that local knowledge plays a role not only in the day-to-day decision making of the actors involved, but also in the management of solid waste activities through, the employment of appropriate technology, the creation of awareness around local waste practices, education, adherence to norms and beliefs, and also in stopping littering and encouraging proper waste practices.

Sweden is a long-term world reference country in terms of sustainable development. On the other hand, Barcelona has recently made great efforts in order to improve and to make society aware of the importance of environmental issues. Hence, it would be interesting to investigate if these efforts had succeeded in the waste’s management in Barcelona compared to other leading European cities, and particularly to the case of Gävle. In this work, the operation of the management of the urban solid wastes of the two cities is explained. First, the objectives marked by Agenda 21 of each locality are exposed. Next, a theoretical perspective about management, generation of wastes and types of waste treatment is provided. In the following chapter, the results of the generation of wastes, selective collection and the treatments of the wastes are shown for both the cases of Barcelona and Gävle until the 2006. Finally, the two cities are compared and the results obtained in the management of the wastes are discussed. The conclusion in this study is that Barcelona has improved noticeable in terms of environmentally safe management of the wastes. This has happened thanks to the efforts of the city council and of the citizens. But It is still necessary to make a major effort by the inhabitants of Barcelona.

Electr(on)ic equipments possess parts and components with high economic value and environmental peril which prompts a potential need to assess the EEE’s management at EoL. E-waste management in developing countries is one of the least revised environmental topics. In recent times however the subject is getting research limelight from scholars. This study aims at enhancing the existing e-waste management practice in Gaborone, Botswana through systematic investigation of the current circulation, usage, handling and management of W(EEEs). Several stakeholders in the solid waste management system were interviewed and also an in situ (on the landfill) waste composition study was conducted in line with the aims and objectives of the research. The study finds that WEEEs do not have exclusively designed management structure in Gaborone and they rather flow source to sink usually blended with the general waste derived from the entire socio-economic activity. Waste composition study conducted on the landfill indicates a very low percentage composition (less than 1%) of WEEEs in the junk corresponding to 1.9 kg/capita/year. Substantial amount of obsolete EEEs rather seem to linger in the socio-economic system until a capable tapping mechanism is installed. An integrated e-waste management system cored around public sensitisation and the novel phenomenon of Enhanced landfill mining which simultaneously offers time to consult developed countries for expertise on sustainable WEEE management is proposed. The impetus to close the linear flow of electr(on)ic materials remain with the government and a range of stakeholders/interest groups who seek to gain economic advantages and also trim down environmental implications from the circulating and landfilled W(EEEs).

No description available.

Ongoing and potential developments with regards to solid waste management have raised concerns about well being in African cities. There is also growing concern among environmental managers, scientists, and the public that the pace and scale of human activities may lead to adverse environmental and health impacts. These concerns have been worsened by two factors: (1.) That all attempts so far made at dealing with the present situation of solid waste handling in African cities have either failed or only met with moderate success; and, (2.) There is significant economic, spiritual and cultural value placed on the city's development in Africa, therefore, a deterioration in its environment spells further difficulties for improving conditions of development. To date however, very little research has been conducted on the role local knowledge has to play in managing urban solid waste in the context of African cities. This study is a contribution on this topic, using case study cities of Accra and Kumasi in Ghana, West Africa where it was found that local knowledge plays a role not only in the day-to-day decision making of the actors involved, but also in the management of solid waste activities through, the employment of appropriate technology, the creation of awareness around local waste practices, education, adherence to norms and beliefs, and also in stopping littering and encouraging proper waste practices.