# **1. Introduction**

Municipal solid waste management (SWM) continues to be a major challenge for local governments in both urban and rural areas throughout the world. This challenge is particularly important for the developing world. The available statistics show that, although the municipal solid waste generation in the developing countries is still low per-capita level compared to that in the developed world, the developing countries account for a disproportionately high share of the world’s solid waste generation relative to their share of world income<sup>2</sup> . Moreover, from a dynamic point of view, the municipal solid waste management in developing countries faces even greater challenges in the future because of their rapid urbanization and economic growth. Empirical analyses using macroeconomic data<sup>3</sup> indicated that the per capita generation of solid waste was at least 0.3-0.4 kilograms per day even for the poorest people. In general, a 1 percent increase in population is associated with a 1.04 percent increase in solid waste generation, and a 1 percent increase in per capita income is associated with a 0.34 percent increase in total solid waste generation. Considering that most of the developing countries are still in the early stage of their urbanization and economic development process, people generally believe that a fast increase in solid waste generation should be unavoidable in the developing world.

The current practice of collecting, processing and disposing municipal solid wastes is also considered to be least efficient in the developing countries. The typical problems are ―low collection coverage and irregular collection services, crude open dumping and burning without air and water pollution control, the breading of flies and vermin, and the handling and control of informal waste picking or scavenging activities‖ (Bartone, 1995). Although some cities do spend significant portions of their municipal revenues on waste management (Coitreau, 1984, 1994; Thomas-Hope, 1998; Schübeler, 1996 and Bartone, 2000), they are often unable to keep pace with the scope of the problem. Senkoro (2003) indicated that for many African countries, only less than 30% of the urban population has access to ―proper and regular garbage removal‖.

Poor solid waste management in the developing countries consists of a major threat to public health and environmental quality, and reduces the quality of life, particularly for the poorer residents in both urban and rural areas. One of the principal reasons for the inefficient SWM systems in the developing countries is the financial constraint. As SWM is given low priority in the developing countries, except in capital and large cities, very limited funds are provided to the SWM sector by the government. This is especially true for the small towns and rural areas, where the local taxation system is inadequately developed, and therefore the financial basis for public services, including SWM, is very weak.

From an economic point of view, the ―public good‖ nature of SWM services means that there are important social benefits that need to be taken into account in deciding the level of services to be provided, even though governments may have limited financial capacity. Gomes and Nobrega (2005) show that, if the economic, social and environmental components are all quantified, the benefit-cost ratio for a separate household waste collection in a northeast region of Brazil could ―range from 1.27 to 1.77 depending on the economic quantification of the direct and indirect benefits‖.

> 2 See Beede and Bloom (1995).

> 3 References: Shafik and Bandyopadhyay, 1992; World Resource Institute, 1993; Beede and Bloom, 1995; Johnstone and Labonne, 2004.

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