World set to generate 4 billion tonnes of waste annually by 2050, warns UN

According to the UN, humans are producing waste much faster than the planet can break it down

Piles of rubbish on a pavement in Paris. AFP

The amount of solid waste generated globally will double from around 2 billion to 4 billion tonnes by 2050, warned the UN Secretary General on Thursday, as the world marked the first Zero Waste Day.

“Waste is a killer of people, of our planet, of our natural resources and ecosystems, of economies, which lose billions each year from waste,” Antonio Guterres told the 193 member states at the UN General Assembly. "And the gobs of garbage keep growing."

According to the World Bank, 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated every year — 33 per cent of which is not properly managed in controlled facilities.

Every minute, he said, the equivalent of one lorry full of plastic is dumped into the ocean.

“Poorly managed waste is the third-largest global emitter of methane,” said Mr Guterres.

Meanwhile, a staggering 10 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions comes from growing, storing, and transporting food that is never used, he said.

The waste sector is also the third-largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions worldwide, accounting for about 20 per cent of the total, according to UN data.

Mr Guterres urged the international community to “fight back” and seek opportunities to “reuse, recycle, repurpose, repair and recover the products we use".

Circular and zero-waste economies, the UN chief noted, could save governments billions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Also addressing member states, Turkey’s first lady Emine Erdogan, who is heading the UN zero-waste initiative, underscored the “vicious cycle of overconsumption”.

“In a world where millions of people have no access to clean drinking water, production of a single cigarette consumes 3.7 litres of water; a fact that deeply hurts every responsible citizen of the world,” she said.

Ms Erdogan highlighted the global waste trade issue as an “upgraded version of colonialism”, where toxic and hazardous materials are sold by wealthy nations to poorer countries.

“We live in such a world where we send our waste to the least developed countries thinking that garbage we don’t see is actually harmless,” she said.

“Humans have created this frightening landscape,” she said, “but we know that it is in our hands to stop this destruction and save the Earth, our common home.”

In December, the General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on a zero-waste initiative presented by Turkey, declaring March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste.

A lorry dumps rubbish at a waste treatment plant in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. AFP