Scope & objectives | Target audience | Documents and links | Presentations
Hosted by the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM), this Forum, organised by the OECD, took place on 25-27 October 2010 in Mechelen, Belgium.
The past two centuries have seen unprecedented growth in human population and economic well-being. This growth has been fed by equally unprecedented material resource consumption and its associated negative environmental impacts. Economic and trade integration among countries has enlarged the size of markets, allowed greater specialisation and mobility in production, increased the role of multinational enterprises and led to an overall increase in international flows in raw materials and manufactured goods.
Making sure that material resources are managed sustainably and used efficiently through their life-cycle is vital to economic growth, environmental quality and sustainable development. It would also help reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with the production, consumption and end-of-life management of material resources -- a concern that has long been on the policy agenda of OECD countries. A shift from “end-of-life” thinking towards a more integrated life-cycle approach is therefore needed.
The OECD Environmental Strategy for the 1st Decade of the 21st Century, adopted by Environment Ministers in May 2001, clearly outlined the need for governments to look for integrated management solutions which link resource use and prevention of waste into a coherent policy approach, such as the one embodied in the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) paradigm. Policy integration is also most likely to be improved by a structured “partnership” approach, involving all actors in the materials life-cycle (especially business, NGOs, and consumers).
This challenge has a global scope. The growing interdependence of countries and economies and globalisation of trade in materials and goods associated with increasing negative environmental impacts necessitates an approach that would take global effects directly into account.
In line with the need to shift towards more integrated “life-cycle” approaches, OECD has refocused much of its waste management work towards an SMM perspective, and held two workshops:
The outcomes of both workshops, as well as a survey carried out among OECD governments and several “stocktaking” reports and case studies, have laid the basis for the completion of this in-depth and multi-faceted study of the SMM paradigm.
Time has now come to propose concrete steps and measures to put SMM into practice or to extend it to new areas. The objective of the 2010 Global Forum on Environment (GFENV) focusing on “Sustainable Materials Management”, held in Belgium were:
Participation of OECD countries, delegates from invited non-member economies and relevant invited experts. The UN Resource Panel, as well as key representatives from the business and NGO communities, were invited and played key roles.
Documents
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Simon Upton, Director, OECD Environment Directorate |
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Henny De Beats, Secretary General, OVAM |
Relevant SMM Information
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