Local planning responsibilities for disaster waste management (DWM): Building knowledge from storm Alex in the South Region of France

Abstract

As natural disasters increase, the stakes around disaster waste management (DWM) are rising and planning becomes necessary. Yet, planning for DWM faces many obstacles, in particular regarding the lack of clear responsibilities. Who should be mandated to plan for DWM? What benefits and downsides does each potential planner offer? Is a centralised DWM planning process more effective than several? This article aims at answering these questions and assessing the assets and weaknesses of potential DWM planners, by looking into the case study of DWM after storm Alex in the Roya Valley (South France). Eight criteria can be considered to analyse the links between the stakeholders and their environment, and assess their relevance as DWM planners: geographic scale, time scale, resources, responsibilities, planning tools, coordination capacities, disaster, and waste. According to the existing literature, it seems that a comprehensive DWM plan is more detailed, centralises all the information and enables systematic waste treatments. However, in practice, the study shows that it is difficult to find an adequate stakeholder to develop such a plan and enhance the participation and collaboration of other stakeholders on this subject.