SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT
 What Is Sustainable
Development?
• Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs.
 It contains within it two key concepts:
– the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the
world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given;
and
– the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and
social organization on the environment's ability to meet
present and future needs.

 Types Of Sustainability

• Environmental Sustainability:
 It is the process of making sure current processes of
interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping
the environment as pristine as naturally possible.


 An "unsustainable situation" occurs when natural capital (the

sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be
replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity only
uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be
replenished naturally.
•Social Sustainability:
Social sustainability reflects the relationship between
development and current social norms. An activity is socially
sustainable if it conforms with social norms or does not stretch them
beyond the community's tolerance for change. Social norms are based
on religion, tradition, and custom; they are rooted in values attached to
human health and well-being.

The main indicator of socially unsustainable development is

antisocial behaviour, including damage to property, community
disruption, and violence.
•
 Economic Sustainability

The concept of economic sustainability is subject, on all levels, to

different inputs and outputs. The economic sustainability of a farm is subject to
the viability of, and markets for, an enterprise or product. The economic
sustainability of a nation is subject to the whole economy on local, national and
international level.

Economic sustainability implies, both in content and quality, that a

balanced growth is achieved that is not based on long-term indebtedness nor
leads to the depletion of natural resources. In business terms Economic
sustainability is the ability to extract, in some time period, revenues that
outweigh the costs of operating the firm and thereby securing the future of the
firm.

Economic sustainability is not just about achieving economic growth

year on year. It’s about understanding that economic growth is only sustainable
if it simultaneously improves our quality of life and the environment.
 Forest
A definition of the present day understanding of the term sustainable forest
management was developed by the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of
Forests in Europe MCPFE), and has since been adopted by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It defines sustainable forest management as:

“the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate,
that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and
their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and
social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause
damage to other ecosystems.”

In simpler terms, the concept can be described as the attainment of

balance - balance between society's increasing demands for forest products and
benefits, and the preservation of forest health and diversity. This balance is critical
to the survival of forests, and to the prosperity of forest-dependent communities.
 Waste Management

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling

or disposal of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials
produced by human activity, and is generally undertaken to reduce their
effect on health, the environment or aesthetics. Waste management can
involve solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances, with different
methods and fields of expertise for each.

Waste management practices differ for developed and developing

nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial,
producers.
Disposal Methods:
LANDFILL:
Disposing of waste in a landfill involves burying waste to dispose of it, and this remains a
common practice in most countries.
INCINERATION:
Incineration is a disposal method that involves combustion of waste material. Incineration and
other high temperature waste treatment systems are sometimes described as "thermal
treatment". Incinerators convert waste materials into heat, gas, steam, and ash.

RECYCLING
The process of extracting resources or value from waste is generally referred to as recycling,
meaning to recover or reuse the material.

AVOIDANCE AND REDUCTION METHOD:

An important method of waste management is the prevention of waste material being created,
also known as waste reduction. Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-hand products,
repairing broken items instead of buying new, designing products to be refillable or reusable
(such as cotton instead of plastic shopping bags), and designing products that use less material
to achieve the same purpose (for example, light weighting of beverage cans).
Waste management concepts
There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their
usage between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely-used
concepts include:

üWaste hierarchy - the waste hierarchy refers to the "3 Rs" reduce, reuse
and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their
desirability in terms of waste minimization. The aim of the waste hierarchy
is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate
the minimum amount of waste.

üExtended producer responsibility - Extended Producer Responsibility

(EPR) is a strategy designed to promote the integration of all costs
associated with products throughout their life cycle (including end-of-life
disposal costs) into the market price of the product. This means that firms
which manufacture, import and/or sell products are required to be
responsible for the products after their useful life as well as during
manufacture.
üPolluter pays principle - the Polluter Pays Principle is a principle where
the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With
respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a
waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of the waste.

There are many types of wastes such as:

vHousehold waste.
vIndustrial waste.
vMunicipal solid waste.
vConstruction and demolition waste.
vClinical Waste.
vElectronic Waste.
And so on.