Waste Management and Sustainability: Indicators under Ecological Economy Perspective

For indicators to assess a society¡¯s sustainability it is necessary that the understanding of what type of sustainability one wishes to measure is clear. The hypothesis tested in the present study is that solid waste management indicators, used in city sustainability assessments, do not represent the concept of strong sustainability. To test the hypothesis, the article initially identifies the perspectives of solid waste management from the strong sustainability¡¯s point of view, under Ecological Economy perspective. The hypothesis was tested in thirteen sustainability assessment tools, covering approximately 400 cities. Two, out of five perspectives identified, had indicators selected represent them. Only one system presented three perspectives, and eight presented two. To represent the theme¡¯s complexity, all perspectives should be considered, so the hypothesis formulated was accepted.