The Solid Waste Management Toolkit for Developing Countries - Guide Companion Chapters
EPA developed four companion chapters to the Guide, which provide additional best practices for solid waste management (SWM) in developing countries on specific topics. The companion chapters allow interested parties to learn more about emerging topics related to solid waste, including plastic waste, recycling markets, climate, and equity.
The Solid Waste Management and Climate Change companion chapter discusses how solid waste contributes to climate change, best practices to reduce emissions from waste, how climate change impacts SWM, and strategies for building a climate-resilient SWM system. Improving SWM can simultaneously mitigate climate change and enhance local resilience to climate impacts.
The Equity in Solid Waste Management companion chapter defines equity in the SWM sector, discusses the challenges that contribute to inequitable SWM and the resulting impacts, and provides an overview of best practices for addressing inequities while improving SWM.
The Addressing Plastic Waste companion chapter provides an overview of the impacts and challenges of plastic waste management, the benefits of properly managing plastic waste, and best practices for recovering and incorporating waste back into the value chain.
The Recycling Markets companion chapter summarizes the benefits, challenges, and best practices for cities to identify and facilitate recycling markets development when planning and implementing recycling programs.