Beyond an age

of waste
Turning rubbish into a resource

Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

© 2024 United Nations Environment Programme

ISBN: 978-92-807-4129-2
Job number: 2 19
DOI: : 10 9117 20 00 11822 449 9

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Suggested citation:
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2 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Acknowledgements

The United ations nvironment Programme (U P) and the

International Solid aste Association (IS A) would like to thank
the authors, reviewers and collaborators who have contributed to
the report.

Lead author: Zoë Lenkiewicz

Project supervision and coordination: Daniel Ternald (UNEP),
Carlos Silva Filho (IS A), Aditi Ramola (ISWA)

Technical editor: John Smith

Contributing authors:
Fernando Bernardes, Achim Halpaap, Luca Louzada, Aditi Ramola, Carlos
Silva Filho, Hugo Henrique Simone Souza, John Smith, DanielTernald,
David Wilson
Editor’s Note: In February 2024, one of the contributing authors
listed here previously was removed upon their request.

Data analysis team: Hugo Henrique Simone Souza,

Fernando Bernardes, Luca Louzada

Support and contributions:

Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Jacqueline Alvarez, Keith Alverson, Björn
Appelqvist, Sandra Averous-Monnery, Steffen Blume, Pierre Henri Boileau,
Timothy ouldry, Thanasis Bourtsalas, Marie Noel Brune Drisse,
Francesca Calisesi, Ed Cook, Kenneth Davis, Nicolien
Delange, Raphaelle Delmas, Premakumara Jagath Dickella Gamaralalage,
Adriana Sanabria Gomez, Misato Dilley, Junko
Fujioka, Jane Gilbert, Linda Godfrey , Chris Godlove, Marianne
Grant, Kevin Helps, Andrea Hinwood, Shunichi Honda, Leonie
Hoogland, Maria Hughes, Nicolas Humez, Shiho Jinno, Kartik
Kapoor, Nele Kapp, Nagwa El Karawy, James Law, Melisa Lim,
Ana Loureiro, Amani Maalouf, Monika MacDevette, Antonis Mavropoulos,
Sandra Mazo-Nix, Saaiqa Merali, Llorenç Milà i
Canals, Solange Montillaud-Joyel, Jane Muriithi, Susan Mutebi-Richards,
Iyngararasan Mylvakanam, Mira Nagy, Takehiro
Nakamura, Ligia Noronha, Tapiwa Nxele, Clementine O’Connor,
Michiko Ota, Agamuthu Pariatamby, Johannes Paul, Pierre
Quiblier, Arne Ragossnig, Réka Soós, Marco Ricci, Ieva Rucevska,
Fernanda Romero, Laila Saada, Atilio Savino, Anne Scheinberg,
Mary Fuad Tawfiq Shanti, Nalini Sharma, Otto Simonett,
Aphrodite Smagadi, Christian Stiglitz, Steven Stone, Nao
Takeuchi, Marc Tijhuis, Elisa Tonda, José Uribe, Costas Velis,
Goran Vujić, Feng Wang, Andrew Whiteman, David Wilson, Moeka
Yamaguchi, Sallie Yang, Yahan You

Copy editing: Amanda Lawrence Brown, Deanna Ramsay,

John Smith

Production and launch support: UNEP Communication Division,

ISWA Communications team

Design and layout:

Fluid – Strategic Communications
www.hellofluid.co.uk

Photo source: Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

3 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024
Abbreviations and acronyms

CCAC Climate and Clean Air Coalition POPs Persistent Organic Pollutants

CE Circular economy PPP Purchasing power parity

CH4 Methane SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

CO2 Carbon dioxide SAICM Strategic Approach to International

Chemicals Management
EPR Extended Producer Responsibility
SMEs Small- and medium-sized enterprises
EU European Union
UK United Kingdom
EUR Euros
UN DESA United Nations Department of Economic
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the and Social Affairs
United Nations
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
GDP Gross domestic product
UNEA United Nations Environment Assembly
GHG Greenhouse gas
UNECE United Nations Economic Commission
GNI Gross national income for Europe
GWMO Global Waste Management Outlook (2015) UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
HDI Human Development Index UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change
IETC International Environmental Technology Centre
UNITAR United Nations Institute for Training
ILO International Labour Organization
and Research
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
ISWA International Solid Waste Association
UPOPs Unintentional Persistent Organic Pollutants
kg kilogram
US$ United States dollars
LCA Life cycle assessment
WHO World Health Organization
MSW Municipal solid waste
WMU Waste management as usual
Mt Million tonnes (or megatonnes)
WtE Waste-to-energy
NDC Nationally Determined Contribution
WUC Waste Under Control
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development

4 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Glossary

Sources of definitions relevant to municipal waste disposal. EPR systems can allow producers to exercise
management include: International Organization for their responsibility by providing the financial resources
Standardization [ISO] (2013); United Nations Environment required and/or by taking over the operational aspects of the
Programme [UNEP] (2021 a, b); UNEP (2023e); UNEP-Law process from municipalities. They assume the responsibility
and Environment Assistance Programme (n.d). voluntarily or mandatorily; EPR systems can be implemented
individually or collectively.
Additives: Plastic is usually made from polymer mixed with
a complex blend of chemicals known as additives. These Externality: An economic term used to describe an indirect
additives, which include flame retardants, plasticizers, cost or benefit experienced by an unrelated third party, arising
pigments, fillers and stabilisers are used to improve the as an effect of another party’s activity. For example, pollution
different properties of the plastic or to reduce its cost caused from mismanaging waste is an externality.

CapEx (capital expenditure): Funds used by an Feedstock: Any bulk raw material that is the principal input
organisation to acquire or upgrade assets such as property, for an industrial production process.
buildings, technology, or equipment.
Incineration: Destruction and transformation of material to
Circular economy: One of the current sustainable economic energy by combustion
models, in which products and materials are designed in
such a way that they can be reused, remanufactured, Informal waste sector: Sector where workers and economic
recycled or recovered and thus maintained in the economy units are involved in solid waste collection, recovery and
for as long as possible, along with the resources of which recycling activities which are – in law or in practice – not
they are made, and the generation of waste, especially covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements.
hazardous waste, is avoided or minimized, and greenhouse
Just transition: A framework to ensure that the benefits
gas emissions are prevented or reduced, can contribute
of the transition to a green economy are shared widely,
significantly to sustainable consumption and production for example through the protection of workers’ rights
Design for recycling: The process by which companies and livelihoods.
design their products and packaging to be recyclable (see Leakage: Materials that do not follow an intended pathway
Recycling). and ‘escape’ or are otherwise lost to the system. Litter is an
Downstream activities: Involves end-of-life management – example of system leakage
including segregation, collection, sorting, recycling and
Legacy waste: Waste that has already been generated
disposal. Recycling is a process that starts downstream
and is accumulating in dumpsites or the environment as
and ‘closes the loop’ by connecting with upstream (i.e.
existing pollution.
starting a new life cycle for new plastic products with old
materials). Similarly, repair/refurbish processes provide Mechanical recycling: Processing of waste into secondary
another way to close the loop by bringing products back raw material or products without significantly changing the
into the midstream. chemical structure of the material.

Dumpsites: Places where collected waste has been Mismanaged waste: Collected waste that has been released
deposited in a central location and where the waste is not or deposited in a place from where it can move into the
controlled through daily, intermediate or final cover, thus natural environment (intentionally or otherwise). This
leaving the top layer free to escape into the natural includes dumpsites and unmanaged landfills. Uncollected
environment through wind and surface water waste is categorised as unmanaged

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): An environmental Municipal solid waste (MSW): Includes all residential and
policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a commercial waste but excludes industrial waste.
product is extended to the waste stage of that product’s life
cycle. In practice, EPR involves producers taking
responsibility for the management of products after they
become waste, including: collection; pre-treatment, e.g.
sorting, dismantling or depollution; (preparation for) reuse;
recovery (including recycling and energy recovery) or final

5 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Glossary

Open burning: aste that is combusted without emissions municipal solid waste management approaches to 2050:
cleaning.
• Waste Management as Usual – waste generation and
OpEx (operating expenses): Operating expenses incurred
waste management practices continue as today, with
during the course of regular business, such as general and
waste generation projected to grow fastest in regions
administrative costs, sales and marketing, or research and without adequate waste management capacity;
development.
• Waste Under Control – a midway point, with some
athway a course of action that combines system progress made towards preventing waste and improving
interventions across geographic archetypes to achieve a
its management;
desired system outcome
Plastic pollution: Defined broadly as the negative effects • Circular Economy – waste generation decoupled from
and emissions resulting from the production and economic growth, with the global municipal solid waste
consumption of plastic materials and products across their recycling rate reaching 60 per cent and the remainder
entire life cycle. This definition includes plastic waste that is managed safely.
mismanaged (e.g. openly-burned and dumped in
uncontrolled dumpsites) and leakage and accumulation of
Single-use products: Often referred to as disposable
plastic objects and particles that can adversely affect plastics, are commonly used plastic items intended to be
humans and the living and non-living environment.
used only once before they are thrown away or recycled, e.g.
grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers,
Recyclable: For something to be deemed recyclable, the
system must be in place for it to be collected, sorted, cups, cutlery etc.
reprocessed, and manufactured back into a new product or Technology transfer: The transfer of technology and
packaging at scale and economically. Recyclable is used technical know-how from the owner to a new user, which
here as a short-hand for ‘mechanically recyclable (see may be an individual, a business or a municipality etc.
echanical recyclin ).
Upstream activities: Includes obtaining the raw materials
Recycling: Processing of waste materials for the original from crude oil, natural gas or recycled and renewable
purpose or for other purposes, excluding energy recovery. feedstock (e.g. biomass) and polymerization. Plastic leakage
into the environment (e.g. pellets and flakes) already
Reusable: Products and packaging, including plastic bags, happens at this stage.
that are conceived and designed to accomplish within their
life cycle a minimum number of uses for the same purpose
for which they were conceived. In terms of “minimum
number of uses”, the PR3 Reuse Standards (PR3 2024)
suggest that reusable (containers) should be designed to
withstand at least 10 reuse cycles.

Reuse: Use of a product more than once in its original form.

Safe disposal: nsuring that any waste that reaches its

end-of-life is disposed in a way that does not cause leakage
of plastic waste or chemicals into the environment, does
not pose hazardous risks to human health and, in the case
of landfills, is contained securely for the long-term.
Sanitary landfill: An engineered facility for the disposal
of solid waste on and in a controlled manner.

Scenarios: For the purpose of this report, three scenarios

were developed to estimate the impacts of different

6 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

 Table of Contents
Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 09

1.1 A wasteful world ................................................................................................................................................................... 0
1.2 Types of waste ..................................................................................................................................................................... 0
1.3 Why waste matters: People and planet .............................................................................................................................. 11
.4 Actions to halt the waste crisis: Upstream and downstream .......................................................................................... 13
Chapter 2 Municipal solid waste generation, growth and management ................................................................................ 15
2.1 Generation ........................................................................................................................................................................ 15
2.2 omposition of waste .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
2.3 urrent waste management methods................................................................................................................................ 21
2.3.1 ontrolled vs. uncontrolled.................................................................................................................................................. 21
2.3.2 Waste collection ................................................................................................................................................................... 23
2.3.3 Reuse and recycling ............................................................................................................................................................. 24
2. .4 Waste-to-energy.................................................................................................................................................................... 25
2.3.5 Sanitary landfill ..................................................................................................................................................................... 27
2.3.6 umping and open burning of waste ................................................................................................................................. 28
2.4 The current costs of waste .................................................................................................................................................. 0
Chapter 3 Predicting future waste generation ...................................................................................................................... 33
3.1 Using scenarios to estimate the impacts of different municipal solid waste management approaches to 20 0 .....33
3.2 Using scenarios to understand the potential environmental impacts of waste reduction and management.............38
3.3 The future costs of waste.................................................................................................................................................... 40
Chapter 4 Barriers to change ................................................................................................................................................ 43
4. Waste as a complex problem .............................................................................................................................................. 4
4.2 Lack of recognition of the urgency of the waste challenge.............................................................................................. 44
4.2. ata on pollution and health risks is lacking .....................................................................................................................4
4.2.2 limate impacts are underestimated and mitigation opportunities are underexploited ...............................................4
4. Lack of inclusion................................................................................................................................................................... 0
4. . Gendered aspects of waste are not recognised................................................................................................................ 51
4. .2 The informal sector is undervalued .................................................................................................................................... 52
4.4 Legislation is fre uently inade uate and ineffective ........................................................................................................53
4.4. Lack of an enabling environment ....................................................................................................................................... 53
4.4.2 Weak enforcement, sanctions and penalties..................................................................................................................... 4
4. Technical barriers: Universal and contextual ..................................................................................................................... 55
4. Persistent market and financial barriers ............................................................................................................................ 57
4. . inancing mechanisms are not always fit-for-purpose..................................................................................................... 57
4. .2 Polluters are not paying or changing ............................................................................................................................... 58
Chapter 5 Converging pathways to ............................. ................................. 61
5.1 Pathways to prioritising waste ............................................................................................................................................ 62
5.1.1 ata and digitalisation to strengthen the waste management value chain....................................................................62
5.1.2 ata to enable clear vision and consistent leadership ..................................................................................................... 63
5.2 Pathways to waste prevention ............................................................................................................................................ 4
5.2.1 ero waste and circular economy models ......................................................................................................................... 4
5.2.2 A focus on food waste ......................................................................................................................................................... 67
5.3 Pathways to delivering societal change ............................................................................................................................. 68
5.3.1 Adopting behavioural science ............................................................................................................................................. 68
5.3.2 Ensuring inclusion and representation ...............................................................................................................................
.4 Building national capacity.................................................................................................................................................... 71
Chapter 6 Conclusions and recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 77
References ............................................................................................................................................................................ 81
Annex 1: Data sources for waste generation and management........................................................................................... 96
Annex 2: Methodology – Waste generation and management ............................................................................................ 99
Annex 3: Life cycle assessment as an environmental management tool............................................................................. 107

7 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Every year across the globe more
than two billion tonnes of municipal
solid waste is generated.

Photo source: aryfahmed / Adobe Stock

01 Introduction

1.1. A wasteful world

Photo source: dimazel / Adobe Stock

Every year across the globe more than two billion tonnes of is still being generated every year, and billions of people still
municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated. If packed into don’t have their waste collected.
standard shipping containers and placed end-to-end, this
Uncontrolled waste knows no national borders. It is
waste would wrap around the Earth’s equator 25 times, or
carried by waterways across and between countries,
further than traveling to the moon and back.
while emissions from the burning and open dumping of
As well as municipal waste, human activity generates waste are deposited in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
significant amounts of agricultural; construction and and in the atmosphere. Pollution from waste is associated
demolition; industrial and commercial; and healthcare with a range of adverse health and environmental effects,
waste. This waste is produced on farms and building many of which will last for generations (Vinti et al. 2021;
sites and in factories and hospitals. Siddiqua, Hahladakis and Al-Attiya 2022; World Health
Organization WHO 2022).
Municipal waste is generated wherever there are human
settlements. It is influenced by each person in the world, In response to Resolution 2/7, adopted by the second
with every purchasing decision, through daily practices session of the United Nations Environment Assembly and
and in the choices made about managing waste in the reiterated in Resolution 4/7, adopted by its fourth session
home. The way people buy, use and discard materials (United Nations 2019a), the amount of energy and raw
determines the amount of energy and raw materials used materials used update of the global waste management
and how much waste is generated. Municipal waste is thus picture and an analysis of data related to MSW management
intrinsically linked to the triple planetary crisis of climate globally. It assesses three potential scenarios of municipal
change, pollution and biodiversity loss. waste generation and management and their impacts on
society, the environment and the global economy. It also
The first Global Waste Management Outlook (GWMO), provides possible pathways to reducing waste and improving
published in 2015, provided a pioneering scientific global its management—following the waste hierarchy—with the
assessment of the state of waste management. It was also goal that all waste materials are managed as a resource.
a call to action to the international community to recognise
waste and resource management as a significant contributor The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 echoes the
to sustainable development and climate change mitigation. first GWMO’s call to action to scale up efforts to prevent
waste generation; to extend adequate safe and affordable
Since then, despite some concerted efforts, little has MSW management to everyone worldwide; and to ensure
changed. If anything, humanity has moved backwards - that all unavoidable waste is managed safely.
generating more waste, more pollution and more greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions. Billions of tonnes of municipal waste

| UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

1.2. Types of waste

The word “waste” means different things to different people.

Different local conditions and data collection methods
confuse attempts to arrive at clear definitions. Variously
referred to as refuse, discards, trash or garbage, waste is
essentially the unintended by-product of consumption
and production.
Waste is hugely diverse and there are different ways of
categorising it, for example by:
• Material, e.g. food waste or plastic waste;
• Product type, e.g. e-waste (electrical and electronic
waste) or end-of-life vehicles, which contain
multiple materials;
• Source, e.g. MSW, which contains multiple product
types and materials.

This report focuses on MSW, which is the waste generated

by householders; retailers and other small businesses;
public service providers; and other similar sources.
Managing MSW is generally a local service and is
commonly the responsibility of local government.

Photo source: Angelov / Adobe Stock

MSW is only a (comparatively small) part of the story,
since enormous amounts of non-municipal waste are
generated each year, for example:
• Construction and demolition waste
• Industrial waste
• Agricultural waste
• Healthcare waste

Data is severely lacking for these other waste streams. Some products or materials found in the MSW stream are of
Quantities vary significantly according to whether a particular concern. This is owing to rapid increases in their
country’s economy is primarily agricultural or industrial, amounts or difficulties in collection, treatment, and other
and its level of urbanisation. Healthcare waste is usually aspects of waste management aimed at meeting standards
only a fraction of municipal waste but may be more for protecting health and the environment. Examples of these
hazardous. These other types of waste may be mixed materials are:
with MSW, particularly where formal waste management
• Hazardous chemical waste
systems are not fully implemented (for example,
demolition waste or healthcare waste may be • Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste)
disposed of in a municipal waste landfill or dumpsite). • Textiles
• Plastics
Because MSW is generated by all residents, regular
collection schemes need to reach everyone, everywhere. • Food waste
This requirement contrasts with the management of waste • End-of-life vehicles and waste from mechanics’ garages
arising from industries, mining or hospitals, for example,
which is often concentrated at specific sites. The management of MSW poses unique challenges due
to its sheer volume, continual growth, diverse composition,
MSW typically includes food waste; packaging; household ubiquity in human settlements, variability and influence by
items including broken furniture and electronic goods; cultural change, and the intricate web of social, economic
clothes and shoes; and personal hygiene products. Its and environmental impacts that arise from its management.
composition varies from place to place (and even at the
neighbourhood level) and may be affected by the time
of year, weather conditions and economic recessions or
other major events and trends.

0 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

1.3. Why waste matters: People and planet
MSW management being delivered by municipal governments, formal and informal private actors, and civil society. Questions of
global social and environmental justice also arise in discussions of municipal waste growth and its management, as illustrated
by the many links with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Table 1) (United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP]
2023). Delivered by municipal governments, formal and informal private actors, and civil society. Questions of global social and
environmental justice now arise when discussing municipal waste growth and its management, as illustrated by the many links with
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Table 1) (United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP] 2023).

Table 1: Waste management and its links to the Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1. No poverty: Waste workers in informal economies Goal 10. Reduced inequalities: Intragenerational and
who have no health or social protections are vulnerable to intergenerational inequalities must be addressed through
exploitation and are paid only the material value of the materials developing waste and resource management systems; attention
they collect. Inclusive municipal waste management policies are is required from all stakeholders because the transition to a
most effective for addressing both poverty and pollution. more circular economy will not occur by default.

Goal 2. Zero hunger: While global hunger is increasing, one- Goal 11. Sustainable cities and communities: Solid waste
third of all the food grown in the world is wasted. Hunger can management is a basic utility service without which air quality
be reduced by preventing food waste and redistributing excess and living conditions become degraded, leading to poor
food. Converting unavoidable food waste into compost can health and social discontent. To make cities and communities
replenish depleted agricultural soils. inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, universal access to
municipal waste management services is essential.
Goal 3. Good health and well-being: Communities
without adequate municipal waste management services Goal 12. Responsible consumption and production: Production
resort to dumping and open burning, both of which have and consumption patterns directly impact municipal waste
significant negative health consequences, particularly for generation. To reduce waste and prevent pollution, efforts are
women and children. needed by companies, governments and citizens.

Goal 4. Quality education: Waste management courses in Goal 13. Climate action: Poorly managed waste generates a
tertiary and higher education are uncommon, resulting in a lack wide range of emissions that contribute to climate change, most
of professional technical capacity and a shortage of workers significantly methane from landfills and dumpsites, and black
with appropriate skills and knowledge. carbon and a range of other emissions from the widespread
practice of the open burning of waste.
Goal 5. Gender equality: People’s experience with waste
and its management is gender-differentiated: e.g. household Goal 14. Life below water: Understanding why and how
purchasing and domestic waste-generating activities, and levels land-based waste reaches the sea, and introducing mitigation
of influence over community decision-making regarding waste measures, is essential. Urgent action is particularly required
collection services. in the case of Small Island Developing States, which face a
complex set of waste management challenges.
Goal 6. Clean water and sanitation: Pollutants leaching from
dumpsites can contaminate freshwater sources and associated Goal 15. Life on land: The terrestrial environment continues
food chains. Meanwhile, combining municipal solid waste and to be the primary sink for waste, while rural communities face
container-based sanitation services can achieve economies of complex waste management challenges that if left unmanaged
scale that make both services more attractive to investors. can significantly impact ecosystems and dependent livelihoods.

Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy: Unavoidable food waste Goal 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions: The
can be used to make biogas, a clean-burning renewable fuel increasingly global nature of waste management calls for
that could be used to tackle energy poverty, including in off- heightened international cooperation to build national capacity
grid communities. for the safe management of hazardous waste and to prevent its
illegal trafficking.
Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth: The waste
management and recycling sector is uniquely positioned to Goal 17. Partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals:
improve global resource efficiency, decouple economic growth Current investments in waste management are insufficient.
from environmental degradation, and provide safe and decent Far higher investments will be needed in the future to cope with
work opportunities for all. increasing waste generation and the accumulation of legacy
waste. The return on investment for waste management needs
to be realised to catalyse increased finance.
Goal 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure: Decentralised
waste management systems can attract private sector
investment, encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship, domestic
technology development, greater resource efficiency and
increased employment opportunities, and reduce financial risks
for governments and municipalities.

Source: United Nations Environment Programme 2023

11 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Focusing specifically on the environmental impacts of municipal waste growth and management, its influence on the triple
planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is clear (Table 2).

Table 2: Waste and the triple planetary crisis

Waste and
the triple
planetary crisis

Climate change Biodiversity loss Pollution

Transporting, processing and Indiscriminate waste disposal Between 400,000 and 1 million
disposing of waste generates CO2 practices can introduce hazardous people die every year as a result of
and other greenhouse gases and chemicals into soil, water bodies diseases related to mismanaged
airborne pollutants that contribute and the air, causing long-term, waste that includes diarrhoea,
to climate change. potentially irreversible damage to malaria, heart disease and cancer
local flora and fauna, negatively (Williams et al. 2019).
Methane is released from the
impacting biodiversity, harming
decomposition of organic waste Waste disposed of on land can
entire ecosystems, and entering
in landfills and dumpsites cause long-term pollution of
the human food chain.
(UNEP and Climate and Clean freshwater sources by pathogens,
Air Coalition [CCAC] 2021), with The long-term pollution of land and heavy metals, endocrine-disrupting
short-term effects on global aquatic ecosystems by waste has chemicals and other hazardous
warming (UNEP and Climate and been recognised as one of the main compounds (Kuchelar and
Clean Air Coalition [CCAC] 2021). drivers of biodiversity loss and puts Sudarsan 2022; Thives et al. 2022).
the integrity of entire ecosystems
The open burning of waste releases Open burning of waste releases
at risk (Tovar-Sánchez et al.
black carbon (soot). When black Unintentional Persistent Organic
2018; UNEP 2021a).
carbon settles on the surface of sea Pollutants, “forever chemicals” that
ice it contributes to the acceleration It is estimated that 90 per cent can be carried long distances in
of sea ice melting by absorbing of all biodiversity loss is caused the air, persist in the environment,
rather than reflecting sunlight. Black by land-use change and related biomagnify and bioaccumulate in
carbon has a strong contribution consumption of resources ecosystems, and have significant
to current global warming, second (International Resource Panel 2019). negative effects on human health
only to the greenhouse gas and the environment (Stockholm
carbon dioxide (United States Convention 2019; (WHO 2020;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric UNEP n.d.a).).
Administration n.d.).

Working in waste management can carry severe health risks, 2017; UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre
especially under certain conditions such as in informal settings [UNEP-IETC] and GRID-Arendal 2019c).
and at dumpsites, and when handling healthcare waste and
dismantling e-waste (Zolnikov et al. 2021a; Sara, Bayazid and Between communities and countries, varying quantities and
Quayyum 2022 O ). Health impacts are understood compositions of municipal waste are generated, and different
to be differentiated by gender and age, and more data is approaches to its management have been adopted. One
needed in this regard to better manage the risks and universal truth stands, however: the best approach is to not
outcomes (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals generate the waste in the first place.
Management [SAICM]

12 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

1.4. Actions to halt the waste crisis: Upstream and downstream

Municipal waste management priorities will depend on the Both waste generation and its management have significant
status of waste generation and waste management in any negative environmental impacts.
given country.
There is consequently an urgent need for both upstream
• Countries can be classed as high, medium or low measures to reduce resource use and waste generation, and
waste generators; downstream measures to reduce the environmental impacts
• They can further be classed as having high, of waste (Table 3). Different sectors play different roles in
medium or low waste management service provision delivering these measures.
(including regular waste collection, recycling and safe
disposal capacity);
• These characteristics tend to be correlated with
income levels, as discussed further in Section 2.1.

Photo source: Javier / Adobe Stock

Table 3: The waste hierarchy and the role of different parts of society in controlling the generation and management of
municipal waste

Governments Producers Retailers Waste management sector Consumers

UPSTREAM - -
Prevent

Reduce -

Reuse -

DOWNSTREAM -
Recycle

Recover energy, heat - -

and control emissions

Dispose - -

Source: Authors’ elaboration on the waste hierarchy (UNEP and International Solid
Waste Association [ISWA] 2015, p. 31; Lansink 2018).

13 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Access to waste collection services varies significantly
within and between regions. In higher-income regions
almost all municipal solid waste is collected, while less
than 40 per cent of municipal solid waste is collected in
lower-income countries.

Photo source: Parilov / Adobe Stock

02 Municipal solid waste generation,
growth and management

Photo source: zlikovec / Adobe Stock

2.1. Generation
Generally, as countries become wealthier, rates of industrialisation and urbanisation increase, housing and consumption
patterns change, and a wider range of products becomes available on the market. This, in turn, drives an increase in the
average amount of MSW generated per person, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and waste

generation in most recent year available between 2010 and 2020

1,500
Waste kg person year

1,000

500

0
0 30,000 60,000 90,000 120,000

G P per capita purchasing power parity – constant 20 international US

Note: Each dot represents a country, with GDP data for the corresponding year converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates.
Data is in constant 2017 international US dollars), corresponding to the World Bank International Comparison Program 2023 (World Bank 2023c).
The line of best fit is shown in purple.

15 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

In this report, linear regression models based on gross In the countries or regions with the highest total MSW
domestic product (GDP) are used to predict how MSW generation, there is sometimes a relatively low rate of MSW
generation will change by the years 2030, 2040 and 2050. generation per capita. For example, Figure 2 shows that
This assumes that MSW generation will follow trends in comparable quantities are generated by North America and
economic growth. Although there are significant relationships Central and South Asia, although there is a marked difference
between waste generation and indicators such as the Human in the quantities generated per capita. In addition, the number
Development Index, share of urban population, gross national of fast-growing middle-income countries, where waste
income and adult literacy rates, analysis shows that the best management issues are especially prominent, is increasing.
model fit is linear regression using
only GDP per capita (Annex 2).

Figure 2: Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation by region:

Total MSW (million tonnes) and MSW per capita (kg/person/day)

2.5

Municipal solid waste per capita kg person day

700
Total municipal solid waste million tonnes

600
2.0
500

1.5
400

300 1.0

200
0.5
100

0 0.0
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Photo source: venusvi / Adobe Stock

16 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

 Box 1: Data availability, compilation and analysis

Across countries and regions there are significant forecast global waste generation to 2050 (Annex A2.1).
challenges in terms of waste data and availability. Both reports focus on the management of municipal
One important issue is the lack of standardisation in solid waste (MSW) globally. The key differences between
measurement and reporting; another is the lack of them are that this report uses updated waste generation
well-developed monitoring systems in many countries, figures for most countries does not use logarithmic
which means adequate estimates do not exist for simple scales (to avoid visual distortions of the data), and
indicators such as total collected waste and the share of includes weighted observations by population. Instead
collected waste deposited in controlled landfills. of establishing the relationship between GDP and
waste generation in countries and determining a mean
“Some countries have no official average, the analysis in this report uses a mean weighted
by population (Solon, Haider and Wooldridge 2015).
waste data whatsoever, or this data The estimates have been shown not to be affected
may be incomplete or inaccurate.” significantly by the method used (linear or logarithmic
GDP, weighting by population or not), while they provide
Some countries have no official waste data whatsoever, a useful comparison with the What a Waste Global
or this data may be incomplete or inaccurate. The use Database (World Bank 2024b).
of different methodologies can also make comparisons
challenging. These issues are most pronounced in The main regional reports and data sources used in
regions with the largest amounts of uncontrolled waste, preparing the Global Waste Management Outlook 2024
underscoring the difficulties involved in providing are listed in Annex 1. The methodology that has been
accurate estimates and analyses of the impacts of used to determine waste generation and disposal is
uncontrolled waste globally, both now and in the future. described in Annex 2. The use of life cycle analysis
to estimate the benefits of recycling materials, the
The data used for the analysis in this report is a greenhouse gas emissions associated with different
compilation of existing municipal solid waste (MSW) waste management practices and the externalities of
data reported by countries, population data and MSW, for example, are described in Annex 3.
projections, and socioeconomic data (see Annexes 1 and
2). As most data points are from before 2020, that is the It is also important to note that data on waste
year used as the baseline. management practices and impacts is rarely collected
in a gender-disaggregated form. Since men and
Countries have been grouped according to income women influence and are impacted by waste
levels, based on the United Nations Geoscheme generation and its management differently, it is
(United Nations Statistics Division 1999). This enables vital that gender-differentiated data be collected
statistical grouping for the purpose of the analysis. in order to better understand and control waste,
its management and its impacts.
While gross domestic product (GDP) has been used as the
standard measure for this analysis, gross national income The United Nations Human Settlements Programme
per capita in 2022 has been used to group countries (2023) carried out independent analysis of waste
according to the most recent World Bank classifications generation and management for its SDG 11 synthesis
of countries as low income, lower middle-income, upper report. It estimated that 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal
middle-income and high income (World Bank 2024a), waste is generated globally, compared to the 2.1 billion
which is standard international practice: tonnes estimated in this report. It also estimated a
global average waste collection rate of 84 per cent
• Low income: US , or less
(compared to 75 per cent in this report), and that 61 per
• Lower middle-income: US , –4,4 cent of all municipal waste is “controlled” (compared to
• Upper middle-income: US 4,4 – , 4 62 per cent in this report). The discrepancies highlight
• igh income: US , 4 or more the need for improved municipal waste data worldwide
(discussed in section 5.1).
This categorisation provides a useful framework for
understanding countries’ economic diversity and its
relationship to waste management.
Discrepancies in waste data
The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 adopts
highlight the need for improved
a similar approach to that of the World Bank’s What a
Waste 2.0 (Kaza et al. 2018). Available data has been waste data standardisation
collected and linear regression analysis has been used in measurement and
to obtain estimates for missing data points and to reporting worldwide.

17 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

In 2020, global MSW generation is estimated to have been 2.1 billion tonnes per year. Owing to a combination of
economic and population growth, it is projected to increase by 56 per cent to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050 if urgent action
is not taken (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Projections of global municipal solid waste generation per year in 2030, 2040 and 2050 if urgent
action is not taken.

4
3.782

3.229
3
Waste billions of tonnes

2.684

2.126
2

0
2020 2030 2040 2050

The contribution of GDP and population growth to the projected increase in MSW generation in 2050, if urgent action is not
taken, is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Contribution of gross domestic product growth and population growth to the projected increase in global
municipal solid waste generation in 2050.

4
0.504 3.782

1.152
Municipal solid waste billion tonnes

2.126
2

0
Total 2020 GDP growth Population growth Total 2050

18 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

Globally until 2050, both GDP and population are expected
to grow especially rapidly in Central and South Asia and
Sub-Saharan Africa (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2017;
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
[UN DESA] 2022). It is estimated that more than half the
projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be
concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan,
the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania
(UN DESA 2022).

Figure 5 shows projected MSW generation rates and

the quantities of controlled and uncontrolled waste in
different regions for further discussion of the distinction
see Section 2.3.1).

Photo source: dj_mono / Adobe Stock

The chart shows that the largest growth in MSW
generation is expected to take place in fast-growing
economies, where waste generation is already outpacing
the capacity to manage it.

These findings underline the need for strategies to

decouple economic growth from resource consumption
and waste generation. They also point to the urgent need
for greater waste management capacity, especially in
countries already struggling to collect and manage
waste where high growth in MSW is projected. It is estimated that more than half
the projected increase in global
population up to 2050 will be
concentrated in eight countries.

Figure 5: Municipal solid waste generation and how much of this waste was uncontrolled in 2020,
with projections for 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

1,200

1,000
billion tonnes per year
Municipal solid waste

800

600

400

200

0
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20 0 ontrolled
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2020 ontrolled

2020 Uncontrolled 20 0 Uncontrolled

| UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024

2.2. Composition of waste

The previous section described how waste generation income to spend on goods such as clothing and personal
increases with economic development. Income levels also hygiene products (“Other” in Figure 6). The impact of their
have an impact on waste composition. Figure 6 shows consumption patterns on MSW composition can be seen,
the composition of MSW, with the global average (far left) for example, in MSW composition in North America and
followed by regional compositions. Northern and Western Europe.

Low-income countries have proportionally larger rural Other factors affecting MSW composition include climate
populations, which means more people live close to locations (more garden waste may be generated in areas with
where food is produced. In these countries, less packaging is high rainfall), population density and cultural practices
used to transport food from rural to urban areas. Packaging (He et al. 2022; Singhal et al. 2022).
therefore makes up a smaller proportion of MSW. This can
be seen in the composition of MSW in Sub-Saharan Africa
and South America. These regions have a higher relative
proportion of food waste, not because they waste more food
than other regions but because there is a smaller share of
packaging waste in their MSW stream.

Higher income, more urbanised populations require more

Photo source: Dave / Adobe Stock

packaging to transport food safely from rural to urban
areas (Chen 2018; Lozano Lazo, Bojanic Helbingen and
Gasparatos 2022). Moreover, higher-income consumers
tend to prioritise convenience, resulting in more single-use
products and packaging from home deliveries and take-
out food being found in the MSW stream (Ellison, Fan and
Wilson 2022). These consumers also have more disposable

Figure 6: Global average and regional breakdown of municipal solid waste composition.
Other includes items such as textiles, wood, rubber, leather and household and personal hygiene products.

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
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Food and Glass Paper and Plastic Metal Other

garden waste cardboard

20 | UNEP | Beyond an Age of Waste - Global Waste Management Outlook 2024