Abstract
Waste management is particularly challenging for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) due to their high per-capita infrastructure costs, remoteness, narrow resource bases and high dependence on tourism. The lack of integrated planning frameworks considering these SIDS-characteristics has stalled progress on sustainable waste management. To address this challenge, this paper proposes an integrated methodology for long-term waste management planning to deliver on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in SIDS. This explicitly combines multi-level participatory SDG visioning and back-casting with waste infrastructure modelling. This methodological development is piloted using a national-scale demonstration on Curacao. Three island-specific waste management portfolios (Inaction, Circular Economy, Technology-led), developed through stakeholder back-casting, are modelled for SDG delivery using a national accounting model under different socio-economic futures. The results highlight the importance of waste prevention and material re-use strategies within islands that engage local populations. Evidence-based identification and evaluation of waste management strategies, grounded in participatory processes, can itself contribute to SDG delivery.
Highlights
Strategic planning of waste management for sustainable development is a grand challenge, for Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
The Curacao case illustrated the environmentally harmful consequences of unregulated recycling initiatives. This suggests that the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators are insufficient to meet their respective SDG targets
This paper puts forward an integrated waste management planning methodology to address this gap
Summary
Strategic planning of waste management for sustainable development is a grand challenge, for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Waste infrastructure development in many SIDS has failed to yield sustainable development outcomes (Agamuthu and Herat, 2014; Dornan, 2014). This can be attributed to a number of reasons. Potential long-term impacts on Abbreviations: AD, Anaerobic Digester; KPI, Key Performance Indicator; MT, Million Tonnes; NGO, Non-Governmental Organisation; RDM, Robust Decision Making; SDG, Sustainable Development Goals; SIDS, Small Island Developing States; WtE, Waste-to-Energy
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