Waste Management Systems’ Impact on Health and Environment in Developing Countries

Abstract

There is a large body of literature produced in developed countries on the potential adverse health effects of different waste management options but hardly studied in developing countries. On the contrary, the relations between economic issues and the impact of waste management systems on the environment have been studied by different scholars from developing countries. This paper aims to explain associations between some parameters that describe waste management systems at a city level and country parameters in relation to public health and environmental pollution in developing countries. This work reviews waste management systems from more than thirty urban areas in 22 developing countries in 4 continents It describes partly their waste management as answers to 122 questions that include information of public sources and general country characteristics. A combination of methods was used in order to assess the impact of waste management system on health and the environment. Collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic methods in order to draw conclusions. The outcomes were unable to provide convincing evidence of an association of waste management and the impact on health. On the contrary, the results show that some of the waste management practices have a negative influence in the environment. The study didn’t consider epidemiological evidences concerning public health, economy and pollution of the studied cities due to nonexistence or unreliable reliable information. Instead, data on country performance indicators for public health (perinatal mortality, adult mortality, life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy, an economic indicator (Gross Domestic Product/capita) and environmental indicators (ecological footprint / capita and  CO2-emission/capita were used. In addition, some other country characterization parameters were chosen (persons/km², % urban population).