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Between the 1990s and early 2000s, large-scale illegal dumping and improper treatment of medical waste was a common occurrence in Japan, and became a serious social issue owing to the potential human health risk and environmental damage resulting from the waste itself, which could be infectious or contained sharps or chemical and toxic substances...

Plastic is ubiquitous: we use it for life-saving medical devices, clothing, toys and cosmetics; we use it in agriculture and industry. But we also know the growing risk of plastic waste in the environment, landfills and the oceans. For example, the amount of plastic that some fulmars accumulate in their stomachs during their lives is equivalent to...

Understanding Myanmar’s solid waste systems presents a challenge for anyone working in the sector. While waste collection and disposal challenges faced by Myanmar’s cities and towns share similarities, strategies to overcome them evolve locally and are often not well-communicated between different local government bodies. Data on the country’s...

The Best Practices for Solid Waste Management: A Guide for Decision-Makers in Developing Countries (Guide) is focused on best practices for solid waste management in medium and large urban centers in developing countries (generally referred to as “cities” in the Guide), because they face the most substantial solid waste management challenges. Given...

In the race for infrastructure connectivity across Asia, several states have established initiatives to provide funding for developing countries. Chief among these are the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Japanese Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (PQI). The most recent addition to these competing multilateral initiatives in...

Phnom Penh is facing huge challenges in waste management due to population growth, increasing income and consumption levels, expanding urbanisation and inadequate waste management due to lack of proper waste collection and treatment facilities, technical staff as well as unclear responsibilities among staff members. In this regard, with the request...

Despite considerable hope and enthusiasm raised by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and some quick initial efforts, many governments and stakeholders are uncertain about how to proceed concretely. The 2030 development agenda is intended to be transformative, and the goals seem comprehensive, but they also are very complex - with 17 goals...