What's the cost of preventing vs. dealing with our waste?
This post first appeared in our weekly Make Waves Mondays email series on April 7, 2025.
Hello hello, friend!
I am so excited for this week’s post. It’s been on my list for nearly a year now and I’m so excited to finally get into it today.
I’ve talked about recycling many many times in the past, and how recycling is not the solution to our waste problem.
An important part of a sustainable, circular economy, sure. But the solution?
Not. Even. Close.
We need to rethink, refuse, and reduce well before we ever get to the recycling stage - aka shift to a circular economy in which products are designed with the end of life in mind and resources are reused and put back into the production process again and again and again.
But the part we haven’t talked about is how much that transition from a linear economy to a circular one will actually cost.
So today, I wanted to take a look at how much money we’re currently spending to deal with all the trash we’re throwing away compared to how much it would cost to prevent that waste from being produced in the first place.
In short… What is the cost of preventing waste instead of dealing with waste?
Let’s dive in 👇
How much waste are we currently producing?
Okay so first things first. How much trash are we actually producing right now?
Because we can’t know where we’re going if we don’t know where we are.
The numbers vary slightly across sources, but we’re currently throwing out somewhere between 2.01 billion and 2.13 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste per year (source, source).
💡 Municipal Solid Waste (or MSW) is the garbage that’s made of all of the items that we all use on a daily basis. Literally anything that we toss in the trash or in our recycling bins is considered MSW. That’s food packaging, clothing, batteries, leftover food, papers, electronics…everything (source). This does not include industrial waste (source).
Krystina note: In this post, I will be using “MSW,” “waste,” and “trash” interchangeably.
On average, each person on the planet, every single day, produces about 1.63 pounds (0.74 kilograms) of waste.
However, this number varies widely across the globe, from 0.24lbs (0.11kg) to 10.0lbs (4.54kg). High-income countries, although only accounting for about 16% of the world’s population, produce about 34% of the planet’s waste (source).
And, unfortunately but probably not surprising, according to the World Bank, at a bare minimum, at least 33% of all of the waste that we generate globally is not managed in an “environmentally safe manner” (source), and just 7.2% of all of the resources that we extract from the earth every year are actually kept in circulation (source).
That means 92.8% of everything we take from the earth (wood, metals, glass, oil, gas - everything) is going to waste, never to be used again 😳
If we continue on our current trajectory, how much waste will we produce in coming years?
So of course, we can’t just take our current trash numbers and act solely on those. We have to think about our rapidly growing population and how that will impact how much waste we produce and how we can prevent those numbers.
Because as much as we wish they could, these changes simply cannot happen overnight.
Now, again, these numbers do vary slightly among sources, but overall, if we continue on our current trajectory and make no changes to the system, our total MSW output will grow from that 2.01–2.13 billion tonnes per year to somewhere between 3.4 billion and 3.78 billion tonnes per year (source,source).
That’s an increase of anywhere from 68% to 77% in the next 25 years.
Even if we can “get our waste under control,” or essentially keep things as status quo as possible from where we are now, we will still generate about 3.15 billion tonnes of waste by 2050 (approximately a 50% increase) (source).
But again, when we look at different regions of the world, these numbers vary widely.
According to the World Bank, high-income nations will experience a daily per capita waste increase of about 19%, whereas that same figure for low- and middle-income nations will be 40% or more. And in these low- to middle-income regions where waste generation is expected to grow the most, more than half of all waste is currently openly dumped, meaning that these incredible waste trajectories will have major impacts on the environment, health, and prosperity (source).
What all is involved in “cleaning up” or “dealing with” our waste? Where do the costs come from?
There’s a lot that goes into waste management. Some that we see, some that we don’t.
Overall, the costs associated with waste management come from collection, transport, treatment, and final disposal of the waste (source), but most of the costs come from the collection and transport stages. I mean, think of all of the wages, vehicle maintenance and fuel, and insurance that has to be paid to get our trash from point A to B to C… (source,source,source). The transportation costs alone account for more than 50% of waste management costs globally (source).
I don’t know about you, but that’s not at all what I expected to eat up the biggest chunk of trash budgets. Literally just moving the trash around.
It’s also important to remember that there are significant upfront costs associated with waste management facilities. Recycling centers, waste-to-energy facilities, and, yes, even landfills all have high costs to get them up and running, in addition to all of the ongoing management costs. And on top of all of that, they result in lower land values in the surrounding areas (source).
If we continue on our current trajectory, we’re gonna need a whole lot more of those facilities.
So then once the trash has been collected, where does it ultimately end up?
Globally, about 37% of all waste is disposed of in a landfill of some form - but only about 8% of that goes to sanitary landfills that have landfill gas collection systems (source).
(Quick question: should I do a blog post all about what happens in a landfill? If that’s something you’d like to see, comment below and let me know!)
After landfills, the next chunk of waste is openly dumped. Approximately 31% of all waste is openly dumped, or simply piled up in an unmanaged or open area without any environmental protection measures. Open dumps are susceptible to fires, scavengers, and vectors, and also lead to lower land values. It’s a pretty terrible way to handle our trash, yet that’s what’s happening to about a third of everything we throw away (source).
And lastly, about 19% of waste is recycled or composted, and about 11% is incinerated (source).
Of course, as everything else so far, these are global averages and vary widely. (Take a drink every time I say “vary widely”...?) For example, in lower-income countries, about 93% of waste is openly dumped, compared to just 2% in high-income countries (source).
What about emissions? How much is our trash responsible for greenhouse gas emissions?
In 2016, MSW management efforts emitted about 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. If we continue business-as-usual, that number is likely to grow to a whopping 2.38 billion tonnes by 2050 (source).
And it’s never just carbon dioxide when we’re talking about greenhouse gas emissions. The waste we’re producing is responsible for 20% of all human-related methane emissions globally (source), and in terms of climate change, methane is about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide (source).
Plus, when we look at food waste and food loss in particular (which isn’t the main topic of today’s blog post, but it is relevant!), they’re responsible for another 8–10% of all greenhouse gas emissions (source).
The problems with trash aren’t just about the physical presence of trash in the ocean or litter lining the highway. It’s about human health, climate health, and societal health.
So what’s it gonna cost us to do something about it?
How much are we currently spending on solid waste management, and how much are we going to spend if we keep going as we are?
Okay so now that we know how much trash we’re throwing out, how much trash we’re going to throw out, where our trash is going, and some of the climate change impacts of our trash, let’s get into the part you’re really here for: the money of it all.
In 2020, the direct costs of solid waste management globally totaled about $252 billion (source).
These direct costs include:
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$149 billion for collection
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$35 billion for landfills
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$31 billion for waste-to-energy
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$20 billion for recycling
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$17 billion for dumping
So that $252 billion is only accounting for the physical, tangible act of taking our trash from our homes to their final destination.
But when we factor in the hidden costs (or externalities) of pollution, poor health and climate change from poor waste disposal practices, that cost absolutely skyrockets.
Because preventing or reducing waste doesn’t just eliminate or reduce the direct costs associated with waste management. It also reduces demand for raw materials, reduces the negative environmental and social impacts of waste, lowers the capacity demands for waste disposal, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately results in healthier populations (source)
💡 Externality is an economic term that’s used to describe an indirect cost (or benefit) that’s experienced by an unrelated third party, arising as an effect of another party’s activity. For example, pollution caused from mismanaging waste is an externality. (source)
Exact numbers range across studies based on methods and assumptions, but the estimated total cost of waste management currently including externalities is somewhere around $361 billion, but could be as much as $600 billion…per year (source, source).
Across the globe, on the low end of the estimates, we are spending $361 billion dollars every single year to deal with our waste and the consequences of that waste.
Like…are you flippin’ kidding me?? These numbers are absolutely wild - ESPECIALLY when we consider it’s being spent on something that is nearly completely preventable and was hardly even an issue 70 years ago 🤬
**deep breaths, Krystina**
Now if we scale this down a bit, waste management typically makes up between 4–19% of municipal budgets (source). When we look at it on a per tonne basis, in high-income countries, waste management typically costs more than $100 per tonne of waste, while in lower-income countries, the cost is about $35 per tonne. However, these lower-income countries have more difficulties recovering these costs than higher-income countries do (source).
Imagine all of the other amazing things we could do for our societies if we had that 4–19% of our city budgets freed up…
And if we also take a peek at how food waste and loss fits into all of this, globally, it’s costing us $11 trillion every year. TRILLION. (source)
And this is all just what’s actually happening right now. What about a few years from now?
📢 “Producing plastics is immensely profitable, as its exponential growth over time demonstrates…. However, it is profitable primarily because the external costs it generates have been shifted to others and into the future.” (source)
There are a few different directions we can go with our waste as a society in the coming years:
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Continue business-as-usual,
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Get our waste “under control” and essentially maintain the current waste levels as populations grow, or
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Transition to a circular economy.
If we continue business-as-usual…the direct costs alone will rise from $252 billion per year to $417 billion per year in 2050. But if we include those indirect costs from before, the total cost jumps WAY up to $640 billion per year 🤯
If we can get our waste “under control”...the direct costs still rise significantly to $394 billion per year, but including the externalities we’ll actually see a slight decrease from $361 billion to $270 billion a year. Still not great by any means, but significantly better than business-as-usual.
But if we can successfully transition to a circular economy…the direct costs will still rise ever-so-slightly to $254.6 billion per year, effectively staying where they currently are while decreasing per capita costs significantly. However, in that circular economy future, when we factor in all of the externalities of trash and waste management systems, we will actually see a net gain of $108 billion per year (source).
Maybe someone could call the DOGE bros and let them know there’s a solution to their “waste” problem…literally and figuratively.
That is absolutely bonkers insane, friend.
On the one hand, we can keep things as they are and in 25 years spend $640 billion a year on trash, or we can rethink the way we do things and actually PROFIT $108 billion every year.
I know which option I’d vote for.
In a 2023 report, the UN further outlines a “circular plastics economy,” which addresses upstream, downstream, and midstream plastic usage and how to cut plastic usage at all stages by 80% by 2040. In this model, by 2040, we could save $130–200 billion per year on direct plastic waste management costs, plus an additional $3.3 trillion saved over that timeframe by avoiding externalities (source).
This same report also shows that transitioning to this “circular plastics economy” will actually create 700,000 more jobs by 2040 than keeping things business-as-usual. These jobs may shift from one area of waste management to another, or from one region to another, but transitioning to a circular economy is an overall net positive for job creation (source).
AND, if we look specifically at food packaging, by banning single-use food packaging and implementing reusable and returnable foodware containers, in the United States alone we could save $7.7 billion in litter cleanup costs per year (source). (Litter cleanup costs typically amount to about $11.5 billion, and food packaging waste accounts for about 67% of the waste collected during these cleanups.)
Plus, if we can reduce just food waste (not including food loss) by just 20–25% in the next 5 years, we could save anywhere from $120–300 billion per year globally (source). Even on a much smaller scale, a 2019 study found that on average, for every $1 a restaurant invests in reducing food waste, they save an average of $7 (source).
So I don’t know about you, friend, but I’m finding it really hard to see much of any downside here.
We can save billions of dollars, improve our health and wellbeing globally, and create jobs. It’s literally everything the powers at be say they want.
So why isn’t it happening…?
If there are so many benefits to transitioning to a circular economy, why isn’t it happening?
The short answer to this question is that it’s a wicked problem - or a problem that doesn’t have just one solution or one stakeholder, there are complicated social dynamics around the problem, and there’s not really a way to “test” solutions. Any implemented solutions have a direct impact on the outcome of the problem.
But you know me, and you know that that’s not a satisfactory answer for me.
So while there’s no way I can actually list every single reason we haven’t already transitioned to a circular economy, we are gonna chat about some of the biggest reasons 👇
We don’t have enough data.
Put simply, we just don’t have enough data on the externalities of waste, on the impact of waste on climate change, or on illegal waste.
Looking at the impacts of waste on human health, for example, a 2024 UN study says it best: “As products become more ‘advanced’ or complex, so does that composition of municipal solid waste. The increase in the number of chemicals (and mixtures of chemicals) on the market have led to the recognition that hazardous chemicals and other pollutants are now ‘ubiquitous in humans and the environment.’”
These chemicals include all sorts of things like bisphenols (such as BPA), flame retardants, formaldehydes, parabens, PFAS (or “forever chemicals”), and phthalates (source). All things that we’re all probably aware are pretty much everywhere these days, but we don’t fully know the impacts of these chemicals because they’re just ~everywhere~.
This sentiment also reminds me of something I mentioned in our textile recycling blog: that as we are developing new materials and products, our transition to a circular economy might actually be slowed or inhibited because these new materials create a new waste stream, and the recycling industry has to create completely new ways to deal with that new material.
And when it comes to climate change, the impacts of waste on our climate have been underestimated, and because of that, mitigation strategies are currently underexplored. But recent studies are showing that improving our waste management systems would mitigate 15–25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, so hopefully this data will continue to be expanded upon (source).
The part that really struck me while doing all of this research was the point that data collection begins at the point where waste is collected (source). It seems so obvious, but I had never really considered that before.
There’s no record of waste that’s disposed of illegally or informally ever having existed.
And because of this, the effects and the impacts of waste and waste management on public health is most likely incredibly underestimated.
There’s a lack of enforcement.
And while we’re on the topic of illegal or informal waste disposal, did you know that waste trafficking is estimated to be the fourth most lucrative illegal business in the world??
According to the International Criminal Police Organization and UNEP (UN Environment Programme), waste trafficking generates $10–12 billion annually (source).
And, of course, because this is all done illegally, these estimates don’t include any external costs such as cleanup, public health, or public safety.
I’m so intrigued by what’s happening with this waste trafficking thing, but as soon as I started to dig into it more I realized that would need to be its own blog post. So if that’s a topic you’re interested in, let me know!
Language is important!
I feel like I say this all the time, but it’s still so true. The words we use matter, and how we define those words matter.
Definitions of “waste” vary widely, and how they are applied also vary widely.
HOWEVER. Some researchers have suggested that legally requiring the definition of waste to “recognize waste’s potential for further use would highlight opportunities for reuse and recovery, reduce the likelihood of careless discarding, and reveal the interests of possible waste users to waste holders. Since one person’s waste is another person’s resource, defining waste as merely materials that are discarded stands in the way of repair and reuse and is thus a barrier to the circular economy” (source).
And I just think that’s really neat.
Language matters, and I think it’s an intriguing idea that we could redefine “waste” in a way that actually promotes reuse and repair, rather than trash.
Do I believe this is the most effective way to create the change we need? Of course not. But I think it’s an interesting component to consider.
Efforts are being made, but they’re all separate.
It’s not that nothing is happening to help us make the transition to a circular economy, it’s that all of the current efforts are being done in their own silos.
There are micro-, small-, and medium-sized businesses making moves. (Hello! 👋 We fit here.)
There are non-governmental organizations (or NGOs) making moves.
There are some national and municipal governments making moves.
But there’s currently nothing happening collectively to fix the systems.
🧵 We need product designers and manufacturers to make changes, because the products being made directly affect the amount of waste generated.
🚮 We need waste management systems to be effective and efficient, which requires behavior change on an individual or household level, and is further complicated by waste management systems being so wildly different even just across city lines.
📝 There are no national guidelines or requirements for collecting materials for recycling or how those collected materials should be used in new products. About 70% of all waste management services across the world are managed by local public entities (source).
🌎 And our global political landscape means that one solution absolutely does not fit all.
No single stakeholder has full responsibility for waste management. Cities are essentially stuck with the responsibility of waste management services, but they get little to no financial support from governments or from the companies making the waste, so they’re forced to rely on tax dollars and other “user fees” from us, which often don’t even cover the costs of the service (source).
And not only is there no single stakeholder, but oftentimes key stakeholders are left out of the conversation - for example, women and young people.
From a 2024 UN report (emphasis mine):
📢 “Despite local residents being considered non-experts, they often have significant expertise and contextual knowledge that can improve policies and infrastructure decisions. When waste management systems and infrastructure fail due to lack of community participation at the planning and design phase, access to services is undermined and costs to society ultimately increase. Communities may become disillusioned and pessimistic about the potential for positive change, further delaying progress.”
If you really wanna get mad about women’s lack of representation in these conversations and how waste impacts women differently than men, check out page 51 of that UN report…
We’re putting a ton of emphasis on recycling.
While I was doing the research for this post, even though I was specifically looking for information on PREVENTING waste, nearly every article was like, “Hey look, waste is a huge problem and it’s causing **gestures broadly at everything** all of these horrible problems. Let’s recycle more!”
There was hardly any mention of actually preventing waste in most of the sources we found.
One source even called this out:
📢 “Zero waste and circular economy business models that could help to decouple economic growth from waste generation have too often been considered secondary to waste management.” (source)
And…yeah. I feel that.
Fun fact: When I applied for EnviroStar certification for A Drop in the Ocean, nearly all of the questions on the assessment related to waste were about recycling and other forms of waste management. At the end of the assessment, we came out on the lowest tier, but if we had received credit for all of the waste prevention efforts we’re doing, we would have been the next tier up.
I mean, we kept over 8,500 plastic containers from entering the waste stream just last year, and only produced 5.8 pounds of trash in 12 months.
I also recently learned of a tax break for Tacoma businesses to increase their recycling. There was no mention of reducing or eliminating waste altogether to qualify for this tax break, nor did I receive a response from my city council member when I reached out to them to ask for more information about the program.
So much emphasis on recycling, not enough emphasis on preventing.
There are financial limitations.
Even though transitioning to a circular economy would actually lead us to a net profit of over $100 billion a year, the upfront capital investment is significant.
And because of high borrowing costs and/or a lack of collateral, funding for private sector solutions may not be accessible.
Plus, the investor in the solutions may not end up being the primary beneficiary of the resulting improved sustainability initiatives.
“For instance, if a tax is charged on plastic consumption, most of the direct savings will be accrued by the government, and only indirectly by all citizens (e.g. via the reduction of CO2 emissions, air pollution, marine ecosystem degradation, and exposure to hazardous chemicals).” (source)
And yes, these “indirect savings” are incredibly important and beneficial for ~literally every person on the planet~, but given the current state of national and global affairs, it’s a real hard thing to sell to the masses, especially considering that taxes have the highest impact on the poorest in society.
It’s also important to note that a big difference between circular and linear economies is that linear systems are more resource-intensive, while circular systems are more labor-intensive (source).
Take A Drop in the Ocean, for example. If we didn’t take back our empty containers to reuse, we’d constantly be purchasing new containers, and you’d be responsible for recycling (or trashing if you don’t have access to recycling) the empty containers. It’s a pretty “simple” model, but relies on a lot of inputs and resources - and your efforts, as the consumer.
But with our container return program, any time you order a “refill” jar or bottle, we go find your previous order, print out a return label for you, wait for you to mail your empty container back to us, pick it up from our office, log it, rinse it, wash it, log it again, and refill it. Plus sorting and managing all of the returned boxes and packing materials to reuse again, too.
It’s our whole business model and I absolutely love it and would never do anything else, but making the transition from a no-take-back system to a refill system (rather than starting with that refill system from the start), would be a pretty massive undertaking.
📢 “Reuse systems require services and infrastructure, which were eliminated a few decades ago when disposability became the norm.” (source)
What’s the good news?
I know that was a lot, friend. So let’s shift gears and talk about just a few of the many waste prevention efforts that are currently happening around the world, and what could be done in the future.
Katakyushu, Japan has implemented such effective waste prevention and management systems that each resident produces an average of just 0.42kg (0.93lbs) of solid waste each day (source)!
San Fernando, Philippines implemented bans on plastic bags and styrofoam food packaging. By avoiding these materials completely before they can become waste, the city cut its waste-hauling costs in half and its landfill costs by a quarter (source)!
In France, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees reduce the burden of waste management costs for municipalities by more than 50% (source)!
Parma, Italy implemented a Pay-As-You-Throw system, which in just four years cut annual per capita waste by 59%, created 57% more jobs in the collection sector, and cut annual costs by €450,000 ($546,000) (source)!
💡 Pay-As-You-Throw systems essentially treat waste like utility bills. You only pay for the amount you throw away.
Another solution mentioned throughout the articles referenced here is a Virgin Plastic Tax, which can help to close the price gap between virgin, single-use plastic items and reusable, refillable, and recycled products (source).
Personally, I like the idea of a virgin plastic tax a whole heck of a lot more than adding a subsidy for reusable products, which I feel like is brought up much more often in conversations around the price of sustainable versus conventional products.
We’re already subsidizing the plastic industry with billions of dollars, which is why plastics are so cheap in the first place. Why add yet another subsidy that’ll just cost more taxpayer dollars, when we can just remove the subsidy from the multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel industry and tax them instead??
📢 “Policies, which also encourage consumers’ behavior change and increase the demand for reuse, are a key driver of increased investment in reuse models.” (source)
And lastly, of course, we need to support reuse and refill systems - both individually and societally. According to a 2023 UN report, approximately 70% of the plastic reduction we need to see can come from reuse and refill systems. 😲
Yeah. 70-freaking-percent.
So how can you help? What can we as individuals do to support the transition to a circular economy?
Okay, friend. We’re 10 pages into this, and I know that it’s been a lot to absorb. And if you're still with me at this point, I'm so proud of you 😍 But you know I’m never gonna leave you hanging, or leave you asking, “Well now what…?”
So let’s get into some of the ways that you - yes, you - can help support a transition to a circular economy 👇
📢 “Waste management is 20% about technology and 80% about people. Everyone on the planet generates some kind of municipal waste and faces the personal choice of how to manage it. Likewise, it is people who collect waste, sweep streets, and make decisions about community- and city-scale systems and infrastructure. All this means that people really are the key to change.” (source)
Talk about it! Live about it! Lead by example and be a non-judgmental, actual real-life example that it is possible to waste less. Study after study has shown that people are much more likely to engage in sustainable behaviors if they believe that such behaviors are positive social norms that others are also practicing (source). We are social creatures. We make decisions not just based on our own personal experiences, beliefs, and perspectives, but also on what we see others doing around us (source).
Focus on your community. I saw this beautiful illustration this morning and was so thrilled to have stumbled upon something that so perfectly and creatively sums up this entire blog post. Letsbehonest…we’re not gonna get anywhere nationally or globally any time soon. But our communities hold so much power together. (Did you notice that most of the good news examples I shared above weren’t country-wide examples, but individual communities?)
👀 Check out our blog post all about how to engage in your community during 47’s presidency if you need some inspo!
Advocate for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems. Nearly every article I read for this post mentioned EPR systems as a solution to our waste problem. I intentionally didn’t get too into EPR today, because I’m planning to give it its own blog post sometime in the next few months, but it’s definitely an important piece of the puzzle.
📢 “For areas where legislation on plastic pollution has not been advanced, citizen behavior campaigns serve as effective advocacy tools to inspire individuals to use their voices to pressure governments and businesses to legislate or offer plastic-free options. Citizens may not have access to reusable options where they live: it is the responsibility of governments and businesses to meet their citizen’s needs and create accessible and attractive ‘default’ options.” (source)
Only buy what you need. Avoid impulse purchases whenever possible.
Avoid overly-packaged products whenever possible. Purchasing from A Drop in the Ocean is a great way to get your everyday essentials without any packaging at all - no matter where you live!
Compost!
Recycle right, so the materials we send to recycling can actually be turned into new, high-value products. But remember that recycling isn’t the ultimate solution and we should still be striving to recycle less, especially plastics.
Support your local food systems. Join a CSA, visit a farmer’s market, join a community garden. The less food has to travel, the less packaging and refrigeration it needs, and therefore less waste is produced.
In summary…
Well friend, I have yet again found myself an accidental 15+ pages of research deep in a blog post 😅
But I do think that, especially now with everything happening in our current administration - tariffs, trade wars, budget cuts, and a free-falling stock market - it’s important to remember that sustainability and climate change mitigation efforts ARE money-saving efforts.
Nothing happens in a vacuum.
So I hope that this was helpful for you and that you found value in what was shared, and that you’ll use it as a reference to help you advocate for better waste prevention and management systems in your community.
And if nothing else, I want you to remember this:
📢 “Be patient and stay motivated—behavior change around waste reduction and waste segregation takes time and consistency; keep going one step at a time.” (source)
Have a wonderful week my friend, and I’ll “see” you again next week 💙
Sources + Further Reading
Global Waste Management Outlook 2024: Beyond an age of waste (UNEP)
The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Restaurants (Champions 12.3)
The Circularity Gap Report 2023 (The Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative)
The Global Benefits of Reducing Food Loss and Waste, and How to Do It (World Resources Institute)
The World has a Waste Problem. Here’s How to Fix It. (IFC)
Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy (UNEP)
What a Waste 2.0: Trends in Solid Waste Management (The World Bank)
World Waste: Statistics by country and brief facts (Development Aid)
Zero Waste Systems: Small Investment, Big Payoff (GAIA)
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