Over the past 50 years, we have travelled to 110 countries, mostly outside Europe, and early on observed the consequences of waste mismanagement in many – but not all – countries. We will never forget how, in 1981, we returned to Kathmandu from the Langtang trek and perceived this place – despite all its fascination – as a filthy place. In 2013, we returned to Kathmandu and found that the situation had gotten a lot worse. More and more, we questioned our initial explanation that this was a typical consequence of poverty in developing countries. The problem is more complex than that.
Recent studies indicate that the world currently produces over two billion tons of solid waste annually, a figure projected to rise significantly in the coming decades due to population growth, urbanization, and changing consumption patterns. This surge in waste generation is pushing existing waste management systems beyond their limits and exposing profound structural, political, and social weaknesses – particularly in developing countries.
The global waste crisis is inseparable from urbanization. The more urbanized a country becomes, the more waste it generates. Cities concentrate people, economic activity, and consumption, all of which produce refuse at scale. In rapidly urbanizing regions of Asia and Africa, waste generation is expected to double in the near future. These cities – Cairo was a cautionary example for us – often grow faster than infrastructure can be built, leading to informal settlements without regular rubbish collection services. As a result, waste accumulates on streets, in waterways and in open dumps, creating serious risks to the environment and public health. An impressive example for us in 2006 was in the Chilean Atacama Desert, where plastic bags scattered by the wind from the open landfill site were hanging from tufts of grass for miles. We first encountered this phenomenon in 1992 in the southern Yemeni port city of Mukalla, where colorful plastic bags hung from the trees instead of leaves.
Plastic waste exemplifies the irrationality of current consumption systems. Globally, approximately one trillion disposable plastic bags are used each year – around two million every minute. According to the Plastic Bag Statistics published by the PREP Secretariat, the energy required to manufacture just fourteen plastic bags could power a car for one mile, highlighting the inefficiency and environmental costs of our throwaway culture. If such waste is not properly collected or processed, it clogs rivers and sewage systems, causes flooding, ends up in the oceans and contributes to the spread of disease in urban areas.
Uncollected waste has direct and measurable consequences. Stagnant garbage attracts vermin, harbors pathogens, and increases the incidence of infections and respiratory illnesses. These impacts disproportionately affect low-income communities, reinforcing social inequality. The quality of waste management, therefore, is a revealing indicator of the state of civil society. Effective waste systems require public trust, institutional capacity, long-term planning, and collective responsibility. Where waste management fails, it often reflects broader governance deficits, weak public institutions, and limited civic engagement.
Waste management in developing countries frequently does not work due to a combination of factors: insufficient funding, lack of technical expertise, inadequate infrastructure, rapid population growth, and political neglect. Environmental protection is often placed low on political agendas, as policymakers prioritize short-term economic growth or electoral gains over long-term sustainability. Moreover, waste management is rarely perceived as a politically rewarding issue, despite its central importance to public health and environmental stability. Countries with patriarchal social structures often place little value on care work, environmental protection and community health – domains traditionally associated with women. This is something we have observed particularly in Islamic countries. When decision-making is dominated by narrow economic or power-based interests, investments in sanitation, waste collection, and environmental protection may be deprioritized.
Waste mismanagement is no longer a fictional dystopian scenario for us, but an escalating global reality and an urgent challenge. Addressing this problem requires political will, social responsibility, inclusive governance and a fundamental rethinking of production and consumption patterns. The way societies deal with their waste ultimately reflects the importance they attach to human health, environmental integrity and collective responsibility. It is not enough to blame waste mismanagement on political failure; it is the responsibility of every civil society to organize the management of its waste. There are plenty of examples worldwide that show this is possible, even in poorer countries.
