Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions

Remote Mountain Communities

Many of the general problems of solid waste management (SWM) in mountainous regions – such as the difficulty of transporting waste and finding suitable landfill sites – are amplified in small and remote mountain communities. In developing countries, formal institutional systems for SWM in remote mountainous regions are largely non-existent. In tourist destinations, waste produced in small mountain communities is inextricably linked to the tourism industry. Small and remote communities need to have local, community-based strategies to deal with waste effectively. Waste management should focus more on improved separation of waste at source, reusing and recycling waste, and disposing of the remaining waste in an environmentally sound manner – composting the organic matter and storing the non-biodegradable material in collection facilities. Care should also be taken to dispose of health care waste in a safe manner.

Composition of waste and volumes

regions than in urban areas. Second, the proportion of organic waste has decreased over the past decade due to an increase in packaging. This relates to general global trends in consumption patterns as well as an increase in mountain tourism (Gidarakos, Havas and Ntzamilis, 2006). Third, the total amount of solid waste produced correlates positively with income (Modak, Wilson and Velis, 2015a).

The composition and generation of waste varies across localities and is dependent on many factors such as local consumption patterns, eating habits, income levels and time of the year. However, there are a few general trends. First, the share of organic and biodegradable waste tends to be higher in rural mountain

A village in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Photo © iStock/CCat82

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