HOW APPROPRIATE ARE APPROPRIATE WASTE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES - DEFINING THE FUTURE CHALLENGE

The growing concerns of resource depletion and the consequential envir onmental degradation coupled with the ever widening gap between the de veloped and the developing countries has produced a need for a critica l evaluation of waste management technologies. The conventional-criter ia based definition of appropriate technologies is unsatisfactory. The principles of sustainability must be incorporated along with issues s uch as infrastructure capacity and the technology gap. It was conclude d that a relevant technology based on holistic principles is more ''ap propriate'' than one based on a set of criteria. Copyright (C) 1996 IA WQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.