Botswana's Strategy for Waste Management.

The present Strategy endeavours to ensure the sustainable and the environmentally sound management of waste which would guarantee to a significant extent the following: 1) Preservation, protection and improvement of the quality of the environment; 2) Contribution towards the protection of human health; 3) Ensuring prudent and rational utilisation of the natural resources. The Strategy is proactive and will incorporate various principles which will make its implementation both feasible and achievable. The fundamental principles embodied in this Strategy include the Principle of Prevention whose basic premise is to minimise environmental pollution by introducing appropriate management measures before damage occurs; the Polluter pays Principle which allocates the costs of preventing, eliminating or compensating for damage to the environment to the party responsible; and the Principle of Co-operation which seeks to foster neighbourliness and co-operation among all social groups in the resolution of environmental problems. In addition the Strategy has adopted the internationally acceptable Waste Management Hierarchy predicated on Waste Reduction, Re-use and Recycling. This Strategy calls, for. technology initiatives inkeeping with Botswana's economic ability to transform waste into useful bye products, or effective attenuation of hazardous forms of waste before disposal. The objectives, therefore, of this Strategy are numerous but the most important include the following: 1) Minimising and reducing wastes in industry, commerce and private households; 2) Maximising environmentally sound waste re-use and recycling; 3) Promoting environmentally sound waste collection, treatment, and disposal.