Publication

The Asia Waste Management Outlook (AWMO) provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities in waste management in the context of Asia. The AWMO is not intended to be a directory of waste related data or statistics; rather, it is intended to provide a perspective with prescriptions for a variety of stakeholders to encourage early action. It is also intended to provide an overview of the current status, current cutting-edge thinking, and the future of solid waste management in Asia over the medium term. While high-income countries in Asia, such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, provide an aspirational context to other countries in the region, it is worth noting that even after many decades of interventions by multilateral and bilateral donors as well as the private sector, the solid waste management system in Asia still remains in a precarious state. There is a need for a paradigm shift from waste management to resource conservation and recovery, the practice of a circular economy, and the introduction of life-cycle thinking to prevent and minimise waste as a business case for social responsibility. Practitioners in this field should keep in mind the significant financial and institutional commitments required to improve current standards in all phases of waste management. In this regard, AWMO emphasises involvement of multiple stakeholders, the forging of partnerships and regional cooperation.