Trash is a constant of current human existence. Many things in daily life produce waste, especially single-use items, such as plastic water bottles or candy wrappers. The average American produces 4.5 pounds of trash each day, or 1,642 pounds of trash per year, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Some people in different states or cities have access to recycling and composting or yard waste containers, splitting up the waste that they produce. However, the United States does not exist in a vacuum. A global perspective can offer possible environmental solutions toward eliminating waste. So the important question is, how does a country’s development and circumstances affect its waste production, and which countries are standout examples of waste management?
The first half of the question should be fairly easy to answer. Sorting by amount, the United States produces the most municipal waste at 265.2 million metric tons, with China a close second at 254.08 million. Smaller countries produce significantly less, with Japan producing 40.95 million tons and Germany 49.7 million, according to data from Statista. Per capita waste is important to consider as well. The United States remains a leading waste producer. However, China has a much lower per capita ratio due to its large population. The large amount of waste developed countries produce, both in total and per person, is apparent.
In comparison, developing countries generate less than half the waste of richer countries, such as the U.S., Denmark, and New Zealand. However, the type of waste they produce is different as well. According to the International Monetary Fund, higher-income countries consume more goods and dispose of a greater ratio of inorganic materials, such as plastic or paper, than the predominantly biodegradable waste in lower-income countries. This is a rising problem in developing countries, as when there is a rapid increase in urbanization, their current policies dictating waste disposal and sorting do not grow at the same speed, and are unable to handle the increased inorganic materials properly.
While there is a large amount of waste being produced every day from every country, some nations have taken diverse methods to try to reduce the problem this waste may cause. These countries offer an interesting set of alternative methods of waste disposal most notably, incineration, recycling and reuse, and wide-scale reduction.
Two countries that use incineration as a primary method of waste disposal are Japan and Singapore. Japan has an interesting conundrum within its geography. It cannot support large landfills as a primary method of waste disposal, instead relying on incineration to get rid of trash. This is due to the majority of the land being mountains, and the remaining land being densely-populated. Adding to the problem is low recycling rates, reported to be just 20 percent in 2017. This results in 78 percent of Japan’s remaining waste being incinerated. Japan’s struggle with available space creates its widespread use of incineration to reduce its trash.
Singapore, another country with limited space, also uses incineration as its primary method of waste disposal. According to the National Environmental Agency of Singapore, “incineration reduces the volume of solid waste by about 90 percent and energy is recovered to generate electricity.” This in turn has grown in response to growing amounts of waste in Singapore has increased from “1260 tonnes a day of trash in 1970 to a peak of 8,741 tonnes a day in 2021.”
From these two examples, incineration is shown to be an effective way to reduce waste, especially by reducing the amount of space waste occupies, as shown by the correlation between both countries’ low available space and high incineration rates. However, incineration, especially incineration of plastic can produce toxic gases and pollutants such as particulate matter, metals, acid gases, and sulfur as found by Sharma et. al. So what are more responsible ways to dispose of waste?
One country that has implemented large-scale waste recycling is Switzerland. While it also uses incineration, it has no need for landfills: 52 percent of municipal waste is recycled and the remainder is incinerated. However, Switzerland had an incredibly high waste production of 706 kg per person in 2010, much greater than the average of 502 kg within the European Union. Over time, an extensive waste management system helped Switzerland emerge as a “recycling role model” (EDA, 2023).
In contrast, Poland has shown remarkable progress in waste reduction. It currently boasts an incredibly low waste per person ratio: “In 2019, Poland generated 12.8 million tons of municipal waste, or 336 kilograms per person — less than the EU average of 502 kg per person.” However, it remains below other countries in the EU in terms of recycling, with a rate of 34 percent recycled and 43 percent landfill, as reported by Politico.
While Switzerland has made significant progress in recycling and Poland has seen success in waste reduction, each of these two countries struggle where the other succeeds. Both show examples of success and opportunities for improvement.
Garbage is a constant in all parts of the world, in all parts of life. Waste is warped by the world, the economy, geography, and trade between countries. It is a certain factor in our impact upon the world and demands improvements as the human population expands. With different countries demonstrating various methods of dealing with trash, humanity has a start in finding ways to deal with the ever-growing problem both globally and domestically.
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