Asian nations generate about 2.5 billion tonnes per year of municipal solid waste (MSW) and this is expected to increase twofold by 2050 (World Bank, 2012), as a result of an increase in population, urban migration and better living standards. However, this reflects a loss in valuable material resources. Furthermore, 50% of this MSW is organic and could be well utilised via biological treatments to produce compost or biogas.
Most developing nations in the world still dispose of waste in landfill or dumpsites. Currently, only about 10% of disposal sites qualify as sanitary landfills. As a consequence, severe pollution of the surface water and soil is caused and global warming occurs due to methane emissions from anaerobic disposal. This causes health issues for the informal sector, where livelihoods often depend substantially on waste pick- ing, as is the case in the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Cambodia.
