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Instead, local governments have supported the creation of community-based micro-
and small-scale enterprises for collection, transport and disposal, and supported sepa-
ration and trading activities as an additional source of income for these enterprises
(Arroyo Moreno et al., 1997/9; Lapid et al., 1996; Haan et al, 1999; Schübeler, 1996).
However, from a commercial point of view, such initiatives have had mixed success
(Baud et al., 2001; Arroyo Moreno et al., 1997/99; Lardinois and Furedy, 1999), as
large numbers of micro-enterprises collapsed without government subsidies.
From an environmental point of view on the SWM system as a whole, the extent of
waste flows separated from domestic waste flows through voluntary and community
efforts is very small in comparison with the size of the waste flows diverted by private
commercial commodity chains^9. Therefore, governments should avoid undermining
the existing environmental efficiency of SWM by taking up initiatives which will
reduce private sector access to waste, an issue which is still not being addressed by
local authorities in many developing countries.
The major question raised in the current study was how to integrate the
socio-economic and environmental perspectives in urban SWM, such that strategies
for new models in SWM contribute to urban sustainable development. Although ‘inte-
grated sustainable waste management’ is a concept discussed in international confer-
ences, in local practice in developing countries (van der Klundert and Lardinois,
1995), there has been little integration of the socio-economic, environmental and
public health aspects concerning reuse, recovery and recycling. This can lead to
negative effects for the SWM system as a whole, as we will argue in the following
sections.
6.3. MODALITIES OF RECOVERY,TRADE AND RECYCLING
From an environmental perspective, primary importance should be given to mini-
mising waste flows, by changing the way goods are produced. In a number of
industrialised countries, businesses are becoming involved in several such processes.
These include extended product responsibility, eco-labelling, and waste exchanges.
Extended product responsibility (EPR) places the responsibility for reducing the envi-
ronmental impact of the product on the producer throughout the life cycle of the
product (Hoorweg and Thomas, 1999; Davis et al., 1997). Some European countries
have introduced comprehensive frameworks for EPR measures in this area (Germany,
Sweden, the Netherlands). However, such systems are mainly voluntary. Although
waste exchanges are found in Latin America, these types of initiatives are rather rare
in developing countries and are left out of the discussion here (Lardinois and Furedy,
1999).
- Low-income households may reuse waste from high-income households, but this flow has hardly been
documented.