Multi-scalar Influences on Sustainable Solid Waste Management

Assessing the City of Edmonton’s Approach

Abstract

At its core, waste management is a sustainable development struggle, which, if treated improperly, poses severe consequences to human and environmental health. This paper will unpack the socio-economic, cultural, and ecological implications of solid waste management, and explore the potential solutions to alleviating the burdens of improper disposal and treatment of waste on different scales. In order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)– particularly the targets for Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12) and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) – we must not view waste management in silos. Rather, we must encourage responsible behaviors and regulation from the local, regional, national, and global scales, with particular emphasis on the obligations of affluent systems and the capacity building of under-developed systems to effectively mitigate the consequences of improper treatment and disposal of solid waste.

`The exploration of this issue is inspired by the rollout of the City of Edmonton’s new waste management scheme involving the collection of separated waste carts, with a pilot project in 2019 and full launch of the Cart Rollout in spring 2021 (City of Edmonton, 2021b). It is a point of interest to now reflect on the impacts of this updated system, and how it has (hopefully) reduced landfill accumulation and improved the overall outlook for establishing successful local waste management. This paper will therefore address the following questions: How does the waste management approach in Edmonton interact with and encourage positive multi-scalar actions (i.e. a ‘trickle- up’ effect)? How does each succeeding scale (regional, national, and global) influence city-level waste management (i.e. a ‘trickle-down’ effect)? Finally, what insights does this provide about sustainable solid waste management as a whole?