Integrated waste management

This chapter discusses the needs of society: less waste, and then an effective way to manage the inevitable waste still produced. Such a waste management system needs to be both environmentally and economically sustainable and is likely to be integrated, market-oriented, flexible and operated on a regional scale. The current hierarchy of waste management options is critically discussed, and in its place is suggested a holistic approach that assesses the overall environmental impacts and economic costs of the whole system. Lifecycle techniques are introduced for comparing the overall environmental impacts and economic costs.