GOVERNMENT,MARKET AND COMMUNITY IN URBAN SOLID WASTE 281
effectively into policymaking and administrative processes. The latter is a discussion
which has been going on elsewhere in more general terms (cf. Stone, 2001; RAWOO,
2001; Baud 2002; Hall 2002), but can be usefully applied to urban basic services as
well.
A second important area is the ways in which partnerships and ‘up-scaling of partner-
ships’ can be promoted, and the conditions needed to do so effectively. Although the
study has brought out some elements of such potentials, contrasting situations in
which the informal waste recovery sector has been able to realize partnerships still
need further comparative study. Particularly the issue of three-way partnerships, in
which NGOs can and do play an intermediary role between local government and
groups of people working in informal employment or non-recognized activities, is an
area to be explored further.
Finally, future studies need to analyse how the linkages between urban SWM concerns
and the region in which the city is located can be made more effective. Such linkages
concern several areas. They include possible changes in the regulatory framework,
which force local authorities to coordinate actions that have environmental implica-
tions beyond city boundaries. It also concerns linkages with the surrounding region
needed to promote organic waste reuse and composting in partnership with rural
farmers, and the problems of using urban organic waste in peri-urban agriculture and
how to reduce them. Further study on trade flows of various waste materials within
and between countries can contribute to our understanding of integrated sustainable
waste management in the future.