Urban Planning for City Leaders - Cities Alliance

How to provide infrastructure and key services“Reduce, reuse, recycle and recover” is thecornerstone of most waste minimizationstrategies. Waste management strategies -reduce, reuse, recycle and recover - are classifiedin order of preference so that the maximumpractical benefits can be got from productswhile generating the minimum amount ofwaste. Reduction (that is, prevention andminimization) includes practices such as themanufacture of products with longer lives.Although a city can encourage responsibleconsumption, legally enforcing productionpatterns would generally be outside thepolicy scope of a local government. Reusingpromotes products that may be used more thanonce; recycling processes used materials intonew products; and energy recovery includestechnologies, such as methane capture, thatharness waste or by-products to generateusable energy.Waste hierarchyIntegrate wastemanagement and spatialplanningThe size and location of disposal sitesdetermines costs and externalities. Thecost advantage of constructing and operatinglarge-scale landfills over small-scale landfillshas resulted in a trend of regional landfills.Larger landfills can be more cost effective pertonne but may have greater transport costs andadverse effects on property values than smallerlandfills; they are also usually disliked by thecommunity. Site location can minimize factorssuch as increased traffic, noise, unpleasantodours, environmental degradation and limitedland utility, and buffer areas determine wheresites should not be located. Measures such asproviding spaces for sorting and recycling closeto areas where waste is produced can help toreduce the size of a disposal site.Preferred optionLeast preferred optionPreventionMinimisationReuseRecycling / compostingEnergy from wasteLandfillThe United Kingdom willrun out of landfill space by2018 with current wastegeneration rates.Source: Eco2citySource: Eco2city77