What Needs to be Done
Clarifying the Concept, Goal and Strategy of Waste Management System
All parties concerned must be assisted to learn and understand that waste management system
is a multi-dimensional system that concerns many aspects and issues. Furthermore, all of these
issues and aspects are closely interrelated. To tackle one single aspect may sometimes do
more harms than good. The socioeconomic, politic, cultural, governance, laws, institutional,
financial and level of technology and education of each specific area dictates the decision as
well as design of the waste management system. After all, the sound solid waste management
system must gears towards maximum benefits to the society as a whole, not for waste
management sake (UNEP/IETC, 1996)
This leads to the suggestion that the waste management system must be planned and
implemented in an integrated manner. Planners and managers must think more carefully about
the concerned factors and consequences: not only efficiency and effectiveness alone but also
employment, sustainability and equitability as well. The planning and implementing stages
should allow more of different stakeholders (especially women, NGO and the informal sector)
and other fields of expertise to join and organize supplementary activities as a package (such as
source separation, reuse, recycling, educational campaigns, community composting, etc.). The
waste related projects' strategy and activities should be integrated to the existing formal and
informal systems (such as values, beliefs, folklore) which would guarantee more achievements
to the greater extent (Furedy, 1992)