The nine development bands: A conceptual framework and global theory for waste and development

Abstract

Solid waste management (SWM) is an essential utility service. More than two to three billion people worldwide still lack basic services, whereas some countries are already moving beyond SWM towards waste and resource management (WaRM) and a circular economy. This paper sets out a novel conceptual framework and global theory of waste and development, providing a road map, allowing a country or city to locate their current position and plot their way ahead. We identify nine development bands (9DBs) with significant commonalities in terms of critical challenges and developmental pressure points. DB1-DB4 reflect stepwise improvement towards the new baseline of meeting the SDG 11.6.1 indicators of universal collection and management in controlled facilities (DB5). Countries can then choose to move towards environmentally sound management and the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' (3Rs) (DB6-9), with an ultimate aspiration of 'zero waste'. We test the 9DBs conceptual framework against historical journeys of higher income countries. The main application will be in low- and middle-income countries striving towards SDG 11.6.1, where it fills a key gap in the practitioners' toolkit by enabling initial framing/scoping of the problem and smarter interventions to be designed and sense checked. Key insights include targeted governance/institutional reforms, appropriate and affordable systems/technology and adapting solutions to a diversity of local needs and realities.

Keywords: Municipal solid waste management; Sustainable Development Goals; analytical toolkit; controlled recovery and disposal; developing countries; model or framework; waste collection coverage; waste governance and institutional reform; waste history.

Figure 1.

Two analytical frameworks used in developing the nine development bands (9DBs) conceptual framework (Graphics: Ecuson Studio).

Figure 2.

‘Ladders of control’. Each ladder shows a stepwise progression through five levels of service or control. For the purposes of meeting SDG 11.6.1, universal collection coverage must meet at least the ‘basic’ level of service (regular collection of mixed waste); and facility management the ‘basic’ levels of control. The ‘improved’ and ‘full’ levels of collection service include separation at source to facilitate both the quantity and quality of recycling, whereas ‘full’ control of recovery and disposal facilities corresponds to environmentally sound management (ESM) (SDG 12.4). The control levels for facilities are defined separately for landfill, incineration and other recovery – the example shown here is for landfill. The requirements for each level have been summarised for the graphical presentation; for further details see the Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT) (UN-Habitat, 2021). The levels of facility control in WaCT were developed from earlier work (Scheinberg et al., 2010; Wilson et al., 2015b), whereas the levels of collection service ladder are a new formulation based on established practice. Figure © Andrew Whiteman and David C. Wilson (Graphics: Ecuson Studio).

Figure 3.

Institutional functions, which need to be fulfilled for waste and resource management (WaRM) systems to work well. Adapted from Soos et al. (2013, 2017), Wilson et al. (2000) and Whiteman, (2010) (Graphics: Ecuson Studio). MSWM: municipal solid waste management; SWM: solid waste management; WaRM: waste and resource management.

Figure 4.

The 9DBs tree. The roots and trunk represent early development bands in WaRM system development (DB1–DB4). The top of the trunk, emerging from DB4 into the new target baseline DB5, marks meeting SDG indicator 11.6.1, and achieving ‘universal’ (95+%) waste collection and controlled recovery or disposal. DB6→DB8 and DB7→DB9 represent two distinct historical routes through the ‘leafy upper branches’, with universal (95+%) full control (ESM) in recovery and disposal achieved in DB6 and DB7, and a focus on the 3Rs in DB8 and DB9. DB Zero sits on the top of the tree, representing the ultimate aspiration of a ‘zero waste’ circular economy. A key to the DBs is provided in Table 1. Figure© Andrew Whiteman (Graphics: Ecuson Studio). 3Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle; DB: development band. ESM: environmentally sound management; SDG: sustainable development goal. WaRM: waste and resource management.