Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions

Waste Crime

Waste crime involves the illegal handling of waste, which can lead to environmental, social and economic challenges for countries – ranging froma simplenuisance, through to serious environmental contamination and threats to public health. At the global level, there is very little information on the extent of waste crime in mountainous regions. However, the remoteness of many mountain regions is likely to make them easy targets for criminals, much like dumping on the high seas. The illegal or informal dumping of solid waste in mountain regions involves all types of waste including household, industrial and construction waste. Industrial activities such as mining in mountain areas, are of particular concern, especially where operations fail to apply environmental regulations for the management of waste. In many cases, these operations generate hazardous waste, which carry risks for the environment and human health.

Reasons for waste crime

included debris from the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and toxins such as lead and chromium. The toxins, in particular, affected the area’s soil and water bodies (The Japan Times, 2014). In 2015, illegal dumping of household and industrial waste was reported in the Blue Mountains in Australia. The clean-up activity organized by the authorities recovered 8 tons of waste including large amounts of dumped asbestos (Blue Mountains City Council, 2015). Unauthorized dumping of industrial and construction waste was reported in the Northern Caucasus; construction companies used rudimentary waste disposal methods in preparation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia (Sobol, 2015). As a result, dozens of illegal landfills were reported throughout the Krasnodar Region where Olympic construction companies covertly disposed of their waste (Digges, 2013). The role of law enforcement agencies and federal authorities are crucial in sound waste management practices; weak surveillance often leads to illegal activities (Sobol, 2015). Several European countries have been in breach of European Union landfill legislation, posing serious risks to ecosystems and human health. The Campania region in southwest Italy has been referred by the EuropeanCommission to the EuropeanCourt of Justice for its long- running failure to manage waste adequately (European Commission, 2014). Illegal landfills are also associated with other illegal activities such as landfill fires. Campania, has been nick-named the ‘Land of Fires’ because, since the 1980s, organized criminal groups have been burning and burying toxic waste (D’Alisa et al., 2015). Due to disparities in economic development or differences in costs between regions, there is a tendency for waste to be traded between industrial and developing countries, including illegal shipments. At the global level, however, there is very little information on the extent to which mountain regions are the targets of such activity.

Illegal or illicit waste management can occur due to the high costs of waste management (particularly hazardous waste), weak governance, loopholes in regulations or a lack of awareness. It presents significant opportunities for illegal actors to operate in a market with relatively few risks – as there are limited controls or weak enforcement mechanisms. Waste crimes can happen within a country or involve trade between countries. While illegal or informal household waste dumping practices are widespread, countries with weak governments and poor enforcement mechanisms are more vulnerable to unsound waste management practices. Cases of illegal or informal dumping, driven by tax avoidance or weak governance (including the failure to apply environmental regulations) occur within countries. Financial mechanisms such as landfill taxes or waste management fees exist to provide sound and reliable waste management services. However, unscrupulous actors seek to avoid these fees by illegally dumping waste elsewhere. Companies who provide waste disposal services may also generate ‘easy’ revenue by dumping waste illegally, rather than paying fees to dispose of waste in formal landfills. Dumping is committed by both individuals and companies. Illegal dumping can be part of a broader chain of legal waste management activities, making it difficult to identify and distinguish those involved (Rucesvka et al., 2015). Examples exist across different countries. The illegal dumping of toxic and industrial waste was reported in the Ibaraki mountains northeast of Tokyo, Japan in 2014. The waste Illegal dumping

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