International Solid Waste Association’s “closing dumpsites” initiative: status of progress

Do we need landfills?

“…In the editorial article of Waste Management & Research June 2019 edition, the status of progress on the ISWA's Closing Dumpsites Initiative (Law and Ross, 2019 ) was reported. At the World Congress 2019 in Bilbao, Spain, there were two important publications released in support of the closing dumpsites initiative -one was the 'Climate Benefits Due to Dumpsite Closure: Three Case Studies' (International Solid Waste Association, 2019a) and the other was the 'Landfill Operational Guidelines, 3rd edition' (International Solid Waste Association, 2019b).…”

Bioavailability and health risk of pollutants around a controlled landfill in Morocco: Synergistic effects of landfilling and intensive agriculture

“…Despite observing advancements, landfills, and open dumpsites persist as the predominant locations for waste disposal globally [[ 3 ] 4 ]. As per the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), more than 40 % of the globally generated waste is improperly discarded [ 5 ].…”

Global municipal solid waste infrastructure: Delivery and forecast of uncontrolled disposal

“…Studies suggest that improper forms of waste disposal in non-engineered dumpsites in addition to uncontrolled landfills constitute the world’s third largest cause of anthropogenic methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) about 34 times (including climate-carbon feedbacks) more potent than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), contributing to climate change (Maalouf and El-Fadel, 2018a; Myhre et al, 2013). Without interventions, it is expected that existing open dumps will account for 10% of worldwide GHG emissions by 2025 (Law and Ross, 2019). However, studies (Maalouf and El-Fadel, 2018b, 2019) showed that substituting open dumping or burning with proper waste management systems such as engineered landfills coupled with a proper landfill gas collection system, incineration, recycling, biological treatment, food waste diversion, and/or energy recovery can contribute to significant savings in emissions that can reach up to 24–95% compared to the baseline, depending on the tested system.…”