WB sees global garbage crisis

The world’s city dwellers are fast producing more and more trash in a “looming crisis” that will pose huge financial and environmental burdens, the World Bank warned Wednesday.

Urban specialists said the growing pile of trash from urban dwellers is asdaunting as global warming and the costs will be especially high in poor countries, mainly in Africa. In a report on “a relatively silent problem that is growing daily,” the World Bank estimated city dwellers will generate a waste pile of 2.2 billion tonnes a year by 2025, up 70 percent from today’s level of 1.3 billion tonnes.

In the meantime, the cost of solid waste management is projected to soar to $375 billion a year, from the current $205 billion. Billing the report, “What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management” as the first worldwide comprehensive look at trash, the World Bank warned the data points to crisis ahead, as living standards rise and urban populations soar.

“The challenges surrounding municipal solid waste are going to be enormous, on a scale of, if not greater than, the challenges we are currently experiencing with climate change,” said Dan Hoornweg, a senior urban specialist at the development lender and co-author of the report. AFP