Solutions for Waste and Pollution in the Third World

Jul 14, 2010
Joseph Reynolds

Next Climate Change Generation - Joseph J. Reynolds

Third World countries are faced with growing quantities of solid waste but lack the resources to deal with it. Modern high tech solutions can help.

The solution to climate change is more significant than the cause; finger pointing does little to solve a problem that was collectively created. The path to the solution leads in the opposite direction, but passes every door. It is the responsibility of corporations and individuals everywhere. They must step away from the protection of their doorways and onto the pathway of new basic and simpler technologies.

First World Has the Hi-tech Base for Becoming 100% Green

Daily, the industrialized world produces a mammoth amount of quantifiable waste. The First World has the infrastructure to measure it daily, if not hourly. Precise amounts of waste produced, waste stored, and waste converted are all a matter of public record.

Ironically, the enormous amount of waste documented identifies industrialized nations as the primary polluters. The technology used to slow pollution and recycle waste into something useful once again is gigantic and expensive; the enormous funding required typically comes from public programs that are green conscious.

Chris Zurbrugg, SANDEC / EAWAG reports in his introduction to Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries that Third World research reveals that nearly two-thirds of solid waste there is not collected, and is never officially acknowledged. Candy wrappers, cigarette filters, plastic bags, and other items are immediately discarded after use. They collect in clumps and move through the environment in streams and rivers, eventually entering bays and seas. None enters any recycling system.

Third World has the Population Density and Discarded Trash

The largest concentrations of population worldwide - found in the less than developed nations - are far from high-tech recycling systems. Per capita, consumption of processed and packaged products is small compared to Industrialized nations. However, the billions of little bits add up and quickly become overwhelming.

To compute the amount of trash, experts simply look at the manufacturing side. What is sold generally ends up on the ground and in streams, rivers, and seas but not in a landfill. Ironically, greenhouse gas emissions from trash are not as significant in the Third World because waste is not incinerated and recycled. High-tech solid waste management in the First World uses gasification.

Analytical reports by Anup Shah (Poverty Facts and Stats in Global Issues, March 28, 2010) reflect that at least 80% of the world's population earns less than $10 a day, but even more disturbing is the statistic that the poorest 40% of the world's population accounts for 5 percent of global income. This imbalance keeps high-tech out of the reach of most, but an opportunity to turn climate change issues around may result.

Low-tech and alternative but affordable methods of gasification, are now available for use in undeveloped and underdeveloped nations as reported by James Kanter of the New York Times (Green Blogs, July 15, 2010). Even the poorest of the poor can afford this technology and carbon collection for soil may be significant.

Corporate Social Responsibility May Be Profitable

Corporations may be in the best position to help implement already scaled high-tech methods to fit remote recycling needs. Smaller per unit requirements in remote regions of undeveloped nations are acceptable there when facilitated. Simple production of biochar actually reduces burning directed at clearing the forest to create more agricultural land.

There are alternatives to burning tropical forests. Through Corporate Social Responsibility, the two worlds can be linked. High-tech methods modified into low-tech applications convert waste - which kills marine life and pollutes the rivers, reefs, and oceans - into assets to climate change mitigation goals.

Carbon Credits Benefit First World, Third World and Corporations

Money talks. The Third World can enter the voluntary carbon market, and individuals in the First World and its corporations - normally buyers - can also take advantage through agency. Instead of major industrialized polluters merely buying credits to use against local fines, they too can participate in solutions overseas. Everyone can walk the same path going the same way.