SWM is a governmental responsibility. It is part of its public duty to provide basic services to protect public health and the environment. At a national and local government level, this responsibility is typically assigned to one specific ministry or local government unit tasked with resources management, public health engineering or environmental protection. The mandate, tasks and responsibility for SWM are set in the respective national legislation X.1.

Public, Private and Informal SWM Service Provision

When unaffected by conflict or disaster, the provision of SWM is either fulfilled by the local authority or is delegated to a public utility company. The organisational form and ownership of such a utility can be public or private. A publicly owned utility is the operational arm of the responsible authority; it is owned by the public sector and likely directly managed by it. A privately owned utility is a private-sector enterprise, which has offered its services through a public tender and has received the concession to run this service, or parts of it, for a certain period. In both cases, public or private, the utility tasked with the execution of the SWM service – the SWM service provider – has the responsibility for the provision of an inclusive, safe and financially sustainable handling of waste. The SWM service provider is subject to public control and regulation. Depending on its mandate and overarching legislation, the SWM service provider may further outsource SWM activities to specialised private sector actors. The responsibility and due diligence for these outsourced services still, however, remain with the SWM service provider.

In settings with insufficient SWM services or none, community-based, non-governmental or multilateral organisations may advocate for the enhancement of national SWM services or even take over service provision on a limited scale. In low and middle-income countries, the informal sector often engages in SWM service provision with a specific focus on handling recyclables. However, informal waste management activities are usually limited to easily recoverable items and higher-value materials, such as metals or certain plastics. Informal SWM services can involve child labour and may put the health of the informal workforce at risk.

SWM in Humanitarian Settings

In the event of disasters, conflict or displacement – or humanitarian settings in general – the business-as-usual provision of SWM services is likely to be dysfunctional. Existing services might be completely disrupted due to the lack of access, workforce, equipment, funding or prioritisation of SWM in a crisis. Even if still functional, sudden or rapidly changing conditions may overwhelm SWM services. A significant and rapid expansion of the population due to displacement will increase the demand for SWM services and generate rapidly increasing amounts of waste to manage. Services that enable SWM can also be threatened by a sudden deterioration of infrastructure (e.g. inaccessible roads) and equipment (e.g. vehicles) or an unavailable workforce due to death, flight, conscription or incapacitation. For humanitarian settings, it is fair to assume that the quality, coverage and effectiveness of SWM services are always lower compared to peacetime or the pre-disaster period.

Roles and Responsibilities in Humanitarian SWM

In humanitarian settings, the responsibility for SWM always remains with the respective local or national government authority. National legislation always applies and must be respected X.1. When humanitarian actors and donors play a role in supporting the existing SWM system or even providing a service, it is essential to collaborate closely and coordinate with local authorities and get approval for planned interventions and infrastructure implementations. Interventions re-establishing or providing SWM services in humanitarian settings must build on the previously existing and functioning system whenever possible and avoid creating parallel systems, which risk undermining the existing setup and its SWM service providers. Building on existing systems also facilitates future handover to the normal SWM service providers and the phasing out of humanitarian actors.

In some settings, local authorities and their service utilities may still be sufficiently functional and not require external support. However, if the funding and capacity of local authorities and utilities are significantly reduced, humanitarian actors may assist with funding, equipment and human resources, enabling the authorities to maintain service provision or outsource tasks to private sector entities until the regular SWM service provider has recovered and is operational. In cases where utilities are absent or fully incapacitated, or in remote locations out of reach of the utilities, humanitarian actors may take over the role of the SWM service provider. Such a situation is often found in remotely located temporary settlements of forcibly displaced persons. Independent of the SWM service provider – be it a public or private utility or a humanitarian actor – parts of the services can also be outsourced in humanitarian settings to further qualified entities, for instance, private-sector actors, or non-governmental, community-based or multilateral organisations.

Scope of the SWM Compendium Regarding Service Providers

The SWM Compendium outlines the technologies and actions of the SWM service provider in humanitarian settings. It does not, however, specify who or which type of service provider (governmental, private, non-governmental, community-based or multilateral organisation) should do what, as this will vary depending on the specific context.

The SWM Compendium is a guide for governmental, private or humanitarian organisations directly involved in the execution of SWM and acting as the SWM service provider. It also aims to support all entities involved in the secondary roles of SWM service provision and potential donors.