Compendium of WHO Recommendations on Health and the Environment — Waste Management
About this book
Compendium of WHO Recommendations on Health and the Environment — Waste Management, published by the World Health Organization, consolidates the full body of WHO guidance, guidelines, and policy recommendations relevant to waste management and human health across the complete spectrum of waste types: municipal solid waste, healthcare waste, electronic waste, chemical and hazardous waste, and wastewater. This compilation serves as a reference document for national health ministries, environmental agencies, and waste management professionals seeking to align waste sector governance with evidence-based health protection standards. The compendium synthesises WHO guidance on health risks from waste exposure pathways: direct contact with hazardous substances in waste streams, inhalation of particulate matter and toxic gases from open burning, contamination of drinking water sources through leachate from uncontrolled landfills and informal dump sites, and vector transmission of disease through organic waste providing breeding habitat for mosquitoes and rodents.
Healthcare waste receives dedicated treatment as a category with unique infection risk characteristics. WHO guidance on healthcare waste management — derived primarily from the Safe Management of Wastes from Health-Care Activities (the Blue Book) — covers the segregation of waste at point of generation, colour-coded container systems, safe storage and transport, treatment options (autoclaving, microwave treatment, incineration), and disposal requirements for sharps, pharmaceutical waste, cytotoxic waste, and radioactive waste. The compendium emphasises that poor healthcare waste management poses risks not only to healthcare workers and patients but also to waste collection workers and surrounding communities.
The section on chemical and hazardous waste summarises WHO positions on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the Stockholm Convention, and health effects of dioxin/furan releases from waste incineration. Recommended air emission standards for medical waste incinerators are presented alongside guidance on the health monitoring of workers in incineration facilities. E-waste health impacts are addressed with reference to the rapidly growing body of evidence on occupational and community exposure to heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium), flame retardants (PBDEs), and other substances released during informal e-waste dismantling and processing.
WHO recommendations on protecting e-waste recycling workers, particularly children in informal operations, and managing community exposure through dust and soil contamination are summarised.