Development implications of hazardous waste in urban environments: A problem that cannot be buried

Although the problem of hazardous waste has always been with us, relatively little is known about its effects on human health and the environment in many localities throughout the world. Nevertheless, as industrial economies and mass production systems emerge in the global periphery, hazardous waste has become an increasingly serious ecological, social, economic and political problem. As attempts to bury toxic waste have clear limitations, the need to educate the public, industry, and government is apparent. With the use of practical examples from African cities, this paper attempts to further awareness about the implications of hazardous waste in urban environments. We argue that adverse impacts of hazardous waste threaten to disrupt socioeconomic development strategies, and thus derail sustainable development initiatives

Networks of Waste: Informal Economic Systems and Sustainability in Bali, Indonesia

This article examines solid waste management in Badung Regency, Bali. It argues that current conventional centralised and decentralised solid waste management approaches are not proving effective and fail to cater to the needs of the majority of the population, particularly poorer communities. In contrast, it was found that informal waste networks achieved higher standards of economic efficiency, service coverage and resource recovery, contributing both to environmental protection and livelihoods. Much can be learned by planners in developing nations from these 'networks of waste', and in building upon the economic and environmental principles and behaviour around which informal waste networks function.