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Getting from subsistence landfill to sophisticated landfill

World Health Organization, European Centre for Environment and Health, WHO Rome Division

In an era of increasing mass communication and global access to information, with more chances for more people to have the opportunity to share experiences and ideas with others, why is 'open dumping' still the pre-eminent method of solid waste disposal? This disposal technique has barely changed from the beginning of human settlement into organized communities. There seems to be a large measure of reluctance to move towards better landfilling at local level in many towns around the world and varying degrees of concerned inactivity at national level. The reluctance of waste managers in middle- and lower-income countries to take a 'risk' and try something different and better at their landfill, is a major barrier to progress and has to be overcome. This paper will introduce a practical set of suggestions to show how this could be achieved, as well as noting some relevant field experiences. In addition to the technical improvements a waste manager could make, the underlying economic and organizational problems encountered by managers will also be discussed. Such problems are often outside their personal control. These conspire to limit a waste manager's access to enough resources to do better and add to his or her risk-averse attitude.

Key Words: Economic problems • landfill • lower income countries • organizational problems • waste managers

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