Best Practices to Improve the Resiliency of Disaster Waste Management
Citation:
Krause, A. Best Practices to Improve the Resiliency of Disaster Waste Management. 2023 EPA International Decontamination Research and Development Conference, Charleston, SC, December 05 - 07, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation summarizes a literature review that answers questions regarding what has been successful in helping communities not only manage disaster waste but also become more resilient to disasters. Best approaches to improve waste infrastructure resiliency are assessed and grouped into four areas: reducing waste, using green infrastructure, implementing a disaster waste management plan, and using tools/models. Understanding how communities are applying resilient infrastructure will help other communities also responding to disasters that may be exacerbated due to the impacts of climate change.
Description:
Extreme weather events make it critical for communities to plan for effectively managing large quantities of disaster waste and debris while maintaining their ability to receive everyday municipal waste. Recent disasters – floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, volcanoes, landslides, tornadoes, winter storms, and dust storms – create environmental impacts, social hardships, economic costs, and a tremendous amount of waste. For example, Wakabayashi et al. (2017) projected that a probable earthquake and accompanying tsunami can create 52 times the amount of municipal solid waste generated in a standard year. In addition, climate change impacts waste infrastructure, and communities will need to adapt as the amount, frequency, and severity of disasters increase. This presentation summarizes a literature review that answers questions regarding what has been successful in helping communities not only manage disaster waste but also become more resilient to disasters. It also provides an up-to-date summary of literature while identifying knowledge gaps regarding resiliency in waste created by disasters. Best approaches to improve waste infrastructure resiliency are assessed and grouped into four areas: reducing waste before a disaster occurs; using green infrastructure to curb the intensity of a disaster’s effects; implementing a disaster waste management plan in the community; and using tools/models to help before, during, and after the disaster. Understanding how communities are applying resilient infrastructure will help other communities that may find themselves also responding to flooding, fires, tornadoes, and other natural events that may be exacerbated due to the impacts of climate change.