Research: review of the environmental and health effects of waste management
The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, in its report "Waste not, Want not", recommended that an independent body should bring together the literature and evidence on the relative health and environmental effects of all the different waste management options; relative both to each other and to other activities affecting health and the environment. The Government made a commitment in the pre-budget report 2002 to commission a review.
This has been a two stage process. The first stage has been an assessment of the scientific evidence of the physical health and environmental effects of options to manage municipal solid waste and similar wastes, and a report was published in May 2004.
An economic study completes the second stage. This report presents the findings of a study conducted by Enviros Consulting in conjunction with Economics for the Environment Consultancy (EFTEC) to provide an assessment of the external costs and benefits to health and the environment of waste management options valued in monetary terms.
Stage 1: Review of environmental and health effects of waste management: municipal solid waste and similar wastes (May 2004)
Summary
-
Extended summary
(170 KB)
Full report
- Forewords
and contents
(66 KB)
- Introduction
(192 KB)
- Review
of Information on Emissions
(634 KB)
- Review
of Epidemiological Research
(417 KB)
- Quantification
of the Health Consequences of Emissions
(135 KB)
- Quantification
of the Environmental Consequences of Emissions
(74 KB)
- Context
for Quantified Health and Environmental Risks, and Review of Public
Perception Issues
(139 KB)
- Conclusions
(103 KB)
- Appendix
1: Bibliography
(228 KB)
- Appendix
2: Literature Review of the Environmental Effects of Waste Management
Operations
(448 KB)
- Appendix
3: Electricity Generated from MSW Energy Recovery
(69 KB)
- Appendix
4: Royal Society Statement
(41 KB)
- The full
report is also available as a single file
(2.5 MB - note large file size).
Stage 2: Valuation of the external costs and benefits to health and environment of waste management options (December 2004)
- Valuation
of the external costs and benefits to health and environment of waste
management options
(455 KB)
Page last modified:
1 April 2005
Page published: 5 February 2003