1 Meaning of Sustainability Indicators. Why Solid Waste Is an Important Area of Concern

JOSEPH GAUCI

Solid Waste Management Indicators 1 Meaning of Sustainability Indicators. Why “Solid Waste” is an important area of concern in this regard.

1.1 An indicator is a way of measuring a specific issue or condition that is relevant to the overall health of a community. It acts as a gauge to determine whether that condition is improving or deteriorating, thus highlighting potential problems in a community. People and policy makers can use indicator information to create effective solutions in a timely manner. Indicators can also show a positive trend, enabling a community to recognize that they are moving towards a higher level of sustainability.

1.2 Indicators are organised into three general categories: economics, environmental, and social. These categories are sometimes referred to as the three-legged stool of sustainability, with each category representing a leg of the stool. Just as all three legs of the stool are necessary for the stool to stand up, a healthy economy, environment, and society are necessary for a healthy community. Issues and problems in these categories rarely occur independently of each other and require analysis and solutions that address their interconnected nature. Indicators analyze different aspects of a community, shedding light on the quality of life in that area.

1.3 The indicators for sustainable development do not claim to measure the sustainable development, but are one of the possible tools for measuring progress towards sustainable development. Their primary objective is to give useful and synthetic indications on:

a) state of the environment and of the social, economic and ecological components of development and the observed changes b) often significant pressures which deteriorate an already degraded status by breaking the highly fragile balance between development and environment. These pressures can be essential driving forces for economic and social development whose impact on the environment might not be directly perceivable or quantifiable. c) The economic, political and institutional responses, which are aimed at reducing these pressures and improving the situation.

1.4 Setting up indicator systems for sustainable development involves making choices. Response indicators are generally difficult to quantify. They often reveal the existence of policies whose results, when available must be challenged and would often require assessment.

1.5 The sets of indicators currently put forward at global and Mediterranean levels thus rely on a social, economic, and environmental data as well as on response indicators deemed to be especially useful. Many indicators were developed to describe the complex relationship between environment and development.

1.6 The usefulness of the indicators is strengthened when there is a sufficiently long sequence of values over time (20 to 40 years). This diachronic view then allows to monitor the changing pressures on the environment, the problems then created and the results of the applied policies. The longer the sequence, the better the overview of the past; it can then reach beyond punctual events - which can produce discontinuities - and can reveal true major trends.

1.7 Indicators can be used for prospecting and to define strategies. They help objectivise possible changes and to set quantified targets for a more sustainable development. Some indicator targets are set by international agreements. For most indicators, most thresholds and targets have to be set in accordance with national and local situations.

1.8 Indicators are also useful in the context of groups of regions faced with the same issues of sustainable development, to jointly adopt a common and harmonized set of indicators allows the concerned actors.:

To better assess the various positions, speeds and types of development amongst countries; To facilitate exchanges of experience and comparisons between countries on: Progress, past errors and problems encountered while implementing the sustainable development principles Illustrate these findings in regional reports on environment and development.

1.9 The key sustainable development objectives for waste and waste management are to minimise the amount of waste which is produced, to make best use of the waste which is produced and to minimise pollution from waste. Malta has defined a hierarchy of waste management options, which are in order of preference: reduction, reuse, recovery (materials recycling, composting, energy recovery), disposal. The objectives of waste management policy are to move waste management further up the waste hierarchy, while retaining the best practical environmental option, particularly in respect of hazardous waste.

2 List of the “Solid Waste” Sustainability Indicators or other “Solid Waste” related indicators as developed by the following organisations

2.1 OECD

2.1.1 The OECD has pioneered the use of the Pressure State Response Model which classifies environmental indicators according to their causal relationship with environmental issues. In this model, human activities exert pressure on the environment mostly through economic activity (e.g. energy generation) which affects the state of the natural world (air, water, land and living things). Nature provides resources to human activities. Societal response occurs when information about the state of the environment causes people to make decisions about human activities, and take action personally or through administration, households, enterprises or through international cooperation to lessen pressures on the environment. The OECD has published a first preliminary set of indicators in 1991. Subsequently in 1994 70 indicators for 13 issues in PSR framework where outlined.

2.1.2 The OECD gives a measure of data availability (short, medium or long term) and proposes 'main', 'complementary' (to accompany message) and 'proxy' (for use when the main indicator is unavailable) indicators. a) Pressure - Indicator of environmental pressure

Waste Generation municipal S industrial S nuclear S hazardous S/M b) State - Indicator of environmental condition n/a c) Response - Indicator of societal responses

Waste Minimisation L Recycling rate S/M Economic and fiscal instruments, expenditures M

2.2 MAP/Blue Plan

2.2.1 The methodology used in the devising of indicators for sustainable development at global level is mainly based on extending the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model - developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the end of the 1980s for environmental indicators - to the three components of sustainable development. In fact, the indicators are classified in 3 main categories, depending on what they illustrate:

i) Pressure on- ii) The state of iii) Response to

2.2.2 The indicators are classified according to the thematic framework adopted by the Mediterranean Commission of Sustainable Development (MCSD) inspired by the Med 21 Agenda.

1) Population and Society 2) Territory and Human Settlements 3) Economic Activities and Sustainability 4) Environment 5) Sustainable Development: Actors and Policies 6) Exchanges and Cooperation in the Mediterranean

2.2.3 Solid Waste falls under Environment. The indicators are the following:

a) Pressure: Generation of municipal solid waste b) Pressure: Generation of hazardous wastes c) Pressure: Imports and exports of hazardous wastes d) Pressure: Generation of industrial solid wastes e) State: Area of land contaminated by hazardous wastes f) State: Distribution of municipal wastes g) Response: Minimisation of waste production h) Response: Cost recovery index of municipal wastes i) Response: Destination of household wastes j) Response: Collection rate of household wastes

2.2.4 Each indicator is presented with 1) a brief definition 2) the measurement unit 3) comments on the methodologies recommended for its computing 4) possible sources already identified by the Blue Plan 5) the recommended geographical level for its calculation.

2.3 European Union

2.3.1 The Fifth Action Programme on the Environment established the overall objective of the Community as being the “improved and continued welfare of all its citizens”. This underlined the interdependence of policies and services, the ultimate limiting factors being the tolerance level of the natural environment and the resources available. Experience has underscored the vital role of the EU’s forward thrust in the implementation of measures designed to ensure that socio-economic activities are developed in a way that respects natural resources and the environment. To this end, the European Commission is redoubling its efforts to establish relevant statistical information systems. These are produced by Eurostat and feature methodologies developed in line with national and Community policies.

2.3.2 A pilot study entitled “Indicators of Sustainable Development” was conceived by Eurostat in accordance with the methodology on the sustainable development Indicators recommended by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). Given the international nature of the list proposed by the United Nations, not all the indicators are relevant for the European Union. The obstacles encountered by Eurostat in selecting indicators are the following:

a) relevance of the statistical data in the world context b) Problems of analyzing statistical data due to different policies implemented by the EU Member States. c) Comparability and uniformity of EU statistical data d) Accessibility and availability of EU statistical data.

2.3.3 The study comprises four sections:

a) Economic: 9 indicators b) Social: 14 indicators c) Environmental: 21 indicators d) Institutional: 2 indicators

2.3.4 The indicators are the following:

a) Generation of industrial and municipal solid waste b) Expenditure on Waste Management c) Rate of Waste Recycling and Re-use

2.4 United Nations

2.4.1 Since the Rio Summit, there have been many initiatives to promote sustainable development. Indicators are useful tools to gain insight regarding the progress made in achieving sustainable development. Agenda 21 calls for countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to develop and use indicators of sustainable development.

2.4.2 Building on many national and international initiatives aimed at developing and using indicators, the Commission on Sustainable Development in 1995 adopted a work programme on indicators for sustainable development. The work programme includes an initial set of 130 indicators.

2.4.3 In April 1995, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) approved a work programme on indicators of sustainable development. The work programme included a list of approximately 130 indicators organized in the Driving Force - State - Response Framework. In this framework, Driving Force indicators represent human activities, processes and patterns that impact on sustainable development, State indicators indicate the "state" of sustainable development, and response indicators indicate policy options and other responses to changes in the state of sustainable development. 2.4.4 Following the decision of the CSD and the adoption of an implementation plan by experts from various organizations involved in the follow-up, the process of developing methodology sheets for each of the indicators was started. The purpose of the methodology sheets is to provide users at the national level with sufficient information about the concept, significance, measurement and data sources for each indicator so as to facilitate data collection and analysis. The process was coordinated by the United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD) but builds upon indicator work being carried out in several organizations.

2.4.5 The following are the indicators related to Solid Waste Management

a) Generation of Industrial and Municipal Solid Waste - Driving Force b) Household Waste disposed per capita - Driving Force c) Expenditure on Waste Management - Response d) Waste Recycling and Reuse - Response e) Municipal Waste Disposal - Response

3 Proposals as to which “Solid Waste” indicators would be suitable for Malta, based on the MAP/Blue Plan methodology.

3.1 The following "Solid Waste" indicators are considered to be suitable for Malta.

a) Generation of industrial and municipal solid waste b) Expenditure on Waste Management c) Rate of Waste Recycling and Re-use

3.2 These are the indicators recommended by Eurostat. As Malta, through the National Statistics Office, is already subscribing to Eurostat methodology in the collation of data it is felt that these indicators should be used in the Maltese context. The reasons are the following:

a) Malta has only recently began to collect waste stream data and the data collection needs to be strengthened in order to increase its reliability. b) Malta can compare the data collected due to common methodologies and consequently be able to compare not only on the local context on a year to year basis but also with countries with similar conditions to Malta. c) Once these baseline indicators have been established another indicator can be devolved. This is Household waste per capita. 4 Classification of the indicators listed in part 3, according to the ease or difficult of obtaining data for their computation in Malta

4.1 Easily computed: Expenditure on Waste Management

4.1.1 According to the UN, this indicator, measured in USD by unit of GDP, refers to the amount of local council and government money spent on waste collection and treatment. It is important to derive this indicator from waste management data, since the costs consist of capital equipment costs written off over the equipment’s service life, plus operating costs such as those for staff, fuel and maintenance. Budgeted figures should also include both per capita expenditure and operating and maintenance costs.

4.1.2 The Eurostat data are derived from the Eurostat/OECD questionnaire on pollution control expenditure in the OECD countries. The term waste covers public sector and private sector refuse, including dangerous, ordinary, inert and heavy waste. Sewage sludge is included, but waste water is excluded. The calculation method for this questionnaire subtracts receipts from the by-products of waste management activities from the sum fixed capital formation (investment)and current expenditure , to yield expenditure according to the abater principle. Expenditure on waste management includes the costs of preventive measures for limiting the quantity and toxicity of waste generated by the final consumption of products and for limiting the production of industrial waste or reducing its toxic effects. This expenditure comprises the collection, transport, treatment, disposal and exploitation of waste, plus monitoring to meet regulatory requirements.

4.1.3 According to Agenda 21, the purpose of this indicator is to assess the level and efficiency of municipal services provision and to measure its ability to respond to the growing problem of waste management. When expressed in terms of tonnes of waste disposed of, the indicator can be used to compare relative efficiency within a country or region where the overall costs are of the same order. Poor waste management may damage the environment and undermine sustainable development, resulting in loss of productivity and economic output, and may adversely effect human health as well as tourism and other industries.

4.2 Somewhat difficult to compute: Generation of industrial & municipal waste

4.2.1 The UN recommends that the generation of industrial and municipal solid waste be calculated from the tonnes of waste generated per capita per annum. The precise definition of what constitutes solid waste varies, but it consists chiefly of material which has no further useful purpose, is discarded and is perceived by the producer as having no commercial value. 4.2.2 Industrial waste can be expressed in terms of tonnes per annum or in terms of the volume of industrial production.

4.2.3 Municipal waste is produced by various establishments in the urban environment and by households, institutions, schools, hotels and hospitals.

4.2.4 Waste statistics are often unreliable, however: many countries have serious problems with definitions, the lack of a standard classification or a lack of global surveys. The statistics available to Eurostat on this subject are supplied by the Member States and are derived from:

a) Administrative reports from producers of waste b) Waste processing or Transport firms c) Surveys d) Special studies of specific types of waste

4.2.5 Urban waste is collected by Local Councils. It consists of household waste or refuse from commercial or administrative activities or from establishments (schools, local councils and small firms) which deposit their waste at sites designated for collection organized by the local council.

4.2.6 According to Agenda 21, the main purpose of this indicator is to represent the amount of solid waste produced by all types of human activity. It is thus intimately linked to the level of economic activity. Wealthier economies tend to produce more waste; in many developed countries, a reduction in the volume of waste generated is an indication of changes in consumption patterns resulting from an increase in recycling and reuse.

4.2.7 In general, however, consistent and comparable data on this sectors are difficult to obtain. The indicator does not distinguish between toxic waste and hazardous and less toxic waste. The volume of waste produced may also be significantly affected by factors such as seasonal variations in agricultural production or by the inclusion of construction waste, for example, in domestic waste, which affects its density and thus skews the indicator.

4.2.8 This indicator should be linked to urban population growth rates or with per capita GDP. 4.3 Very difficult to compute: Rate of Waste recycling and re-use

4.3.1 The UN defines this indicator as the rate of waste recycling and reuse, i.e. the volume of waste reused or recycled expressed as a percentage of the volume actually generated at source on a per capita basis. It is often measured by means of specialised surveys of types of recyclable components, such as metals, plastics, paper, glass, textiles, organic material etc. The indicator must consider all sources of recycling in order to give the overall percentage of recycling. The indicator should be expressed in terms of particular components if it is to be useful in determining the actual recycling rate. This solid waste indicator does not cover some recycling, of waste oils and solvents.

4.3.2 In the Eurostat/OECD questionnaire, recycling comprises all re-use of materials in a production process which diverts them from this flow of waste, with the exception of re-use as fuel. Recycling in order to produce the same kind of product or for other purposes is included. On-site recycling of materials by an industrial plant is excluded.

4.3.3 Agenda 21 explains how the relevance of this indicator can differ for developed countries, it reflects a concern for the environment, and for developing countries, waste recycling is usually exploited for its income generating potential.

4.3.4 The indicator is intimately linked to the other solid waste management indicators, to the percentage of population in urban areas and to environmental protection expenditure.

References

Axiak, V.; Gauci, V.; Mallia, A.; Mallia, E.; Schembri, P.J. & Vella, A.J. (eds.) (1999): State of the Environment Report for Malta 1998. Malta: Environment Protection Department.

Bossel, H. (1999) Indicators for Sustainable Development: Theory, Method, Applications. Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development

Eurostat (1999) Towards Environmental Pressure Indicators for the EU. European Communities, 2000, Luxembourg

European Community (1997): Indicators of Sustainable Development. A pilot study following the methodology of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

Luxem, M., and Bryld, B., (1997) The CSD Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development. In: Moldan, B., Billharz, S. and Matravers, R. (eds.): Sustainability Indicators: A Report on the Project on Indicators of Sustainable Development, pp. 6- 12. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

OECD (1998) Towards Sustainable Development Environmental Indicators. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

UN Commission on Sustainable Development (1996): Indicators of Sustainable Development: Framework and Methodologies. New York: United Nations

UNEP (2000a): 130 indicators for sustainable development in the Mediterranean region. Presentation Note and Recommendations formulated by the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development and adopted by the Eleventh Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (Malta, 1999). Athens: Mediterranean Action Plan.

UNEP (2000b): Indicators for the Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean Region. Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development/ Plan Bleu, Mediterranean Action Plan