The role of waste management in underpinning the Blue Economy

Wastewater: Turning Problem to Solution - A UNEP Rapid Response Assessment

“…On 28 July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution A/RES/76/300 (United Nations, General Assembly 2022) on the human right to a clean Discharge of untreated wastewater also reduces the opportunity to reuse this potentially valuable resource (Peters 2015). There are several reasons why partially or untreated wastewater is being discharged into receiving waterbodies, including the ocean: poor wastewater collection, insufficient or inadequate treatment infrastructure, expanding populations and urban areas (Corbin 2020), and the increased spatial and temporal variability in precipitation events resulting from changing climatic conditions (Voulvoulis 2018). For the purpose of this report, reuse of wastewater is the practice of using untreated, partially treated or treated wastewater for resources, including potable and non-potable water, irrigation water, nutrients, energy and heat value.…”