Globally, waste continues to be a matter that affects the health of both humans and the environment. As such, it requires a comprehensive approach that ensures that the protection of both these aspects is sustainably achieved, and that there is a balance between these and other social, economic, and technical aspects. Integrated Sustainable Waste Management seeks to achieve this balance by ensuring that all waste sources and stakeholders are covered and strategically approached in addressing waste management. The waste hierarchy, as explained by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), prioritises waste management in the order of prevention, minimization, re-use, recycling, recovery, and finally disposal. With prevention being the ultimate goal, Integrated Sustainable Waste Management needs to be focused towards this end of the hierarchy. Thus, adopting a circular economy becomes the priority, as waste is eliminated in the design of products, materials are used and re-used multiple times, and nature thrives due to a reduction in the rate of extraction of raw materials. Thus, this chapter explores the relationship between integrated waste management and circular economy, with the goal of determining how an integrated waste management policy can be designed with the circular economy at its core. It includes examples where such an approach has been applied, and derives common themes that other countries can explore towards creating or updating their national waste management policies.
The book chapter can be accessed using the following link - https://rdcu.be/eu8Xm