On the occasion of the annual International Zero Waste Day, this Saturday March 30, 2024, the United Nations says it wants to tackle the waste crisis in the world, in a context where “Production and disposal practices “unsustainable consumption of humanity is leading the planet to destruction.”
According to the United Nations, to solve the waste crisis, humanity must work to treat waste as a resource. This involves reducing waste production and following the life cycle approach. Resources should be reused or recovered wherever possible, and products should be designed to be sustainable and require fewer low-impact materials. Such upstream solutions can minimize air, soil and water pollution and reduce the extraction of precious and limited natural resources.
For the UN, improving the collection, recycling and other forms of sound management of waste remains an urgent priority and to achieve waste-free societies it is essential that all stakeholders act at all levels .
“Consumers can change their consumption habits and reuse and repair products as much as possible before disposing of them properly. Governments, communities, industries and other stakeholders must improve financing and policymaking, especially as the waste crisis disproportionately affects marginalized people, the urban poor, women and young people,” support the United Nations.
Data from the UN indicates that households, small businesses and utility providers generate between 2.1 and 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste each year. These include packaging, electronic products, plastics or foodstuffs.
However, says the United Nations, global waste management services are poorly equipped to deal with this situation: 2.7 billion people do not have access to solid waste collection and only 61 to 62% of solid waste Municipalities are managed in controlled facilities. “Humanity must act urgently to resolve the waste crisis,” warns the body.
Note that the annual International Zero Waste Day, for the UN, highlights both the crucial need to strengthen waste management on a global scale as well as the importance of sustainable production and consumption practices, thus celebrating the zero waste initiatives at all levels, which contribute to the advancement of the 2030 sustainable development agenda, whose objectives constitute a universal call to action to eliminate poverty, protect the planet and improve the daily lives of all people all over the world, while opening up future prospects for them.
These goals were adopted in 2015 by all UN member states as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets out a 15-year plan to achieve these goals.
As for the impact of poor waste management around the world, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and UN Habitat indicate, as an illustration, that packed in standard shipping containers and placed end Ultimately, the municipal solid waste produced in one year would circle the earth 25 times.
“The increasing use of resources is the main driver of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, the loss of nature and biodiversity and pollution”, support these UN organizations warning of the fact that if no measures are taken is taken urgently, the production of municipal solid waste will reach 3.8 billion tonnes per year by 2050, because humanity produces 430 million tonnes of plastic per year, two thirds of which are short-term products. lifespan which quickly turn into waste.
In Haiti, UNDP is currently building the country’s first technical center for landfilling and recycling waste on an area of 5 hectares in Morne Casse in the North-East. This modern landfill will receive solid waste from the municipalities of Fort-Liberté, Ouanaminthe, Ferrier, Terrier-Rouge, Caracol and other neighboring municipalities.
In addition, informs the UNDP, the center will have technical platforms with reception, sorting and composting areas for waste recovery. Also, partnerships are in prospect with town halls in Guadeloupe and private Guadeloupean companies for the recycling of certain waste.
