Sanitation, wastewater management and sustainability: from waste disposal to resource recovery
This new book published by UNEP and SEI presents the why, what and how of sustainable sanitation and wastewater management today. Combating disease, Managing resources efficiently, Protecting marine and freshwater environments, Universal energy access, Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Meeting the nutrition and drinking water needs of an ever-growing population. These are some of the defining challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Less often recognized are how they are linked to two more key challenges: universal access to decent sanitation, and safe management of wastewater. As long as wastewater and excreta are allowed to enter the environment untreated, diseases will spread and ecosystems will be degraded, along with the services they offer human populations. On top of this, few societies can afford to keep wasting the rich resources that sanitation waste and wastewater contain: water, plant nutrients, energy-rich organic material and much more. Sanitation, Wastewater Management and Sustainability: From Waste Disposal to Resource Recovery offers a new conceptual framework for planning and investing in sustainable systems, centring on resource recovery and reuse. It examines the social, governance, economic, health, environmental and technological dimensions of sustainable sanitation and wastewater management and resource recovery.