This increase in waste will have a massive impact on health and economies, the UN warned on February 28, AFP reports.

At this rate, current waste should reach 3.8 billion tons by the middle of this century, exceeding the forecasts from a previous report compiled on this subject by the World Bank.

The crisis will be even more acute as the increase is expected to be particularly high in countries where waste treatment remains a polluting activity: landfilling (polluting soils, emitting pollutants and greenhouse gases, such as methane), incineration without recovery.

Their direct and indirect costs should nearly double and reach $640 billion per year by 2050, according to a new report drafted by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), considered both "a guide and a call to action".

In 2020, the direct cost of waste treatment was estimated at $252 billion ($361 billion if indirect costs related to pollution generated by inadequate facilities or methods of management are included).

There is an "urgent need" to begin "a drastic reduction in waste" and to invest in the circular economy, the UN urged during the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, held February in Nairobi. "We must act to avoid the worst-case scenario", its representatives added.

Keeping waste "under control", especially through better treatment methods, could limit their net annual cost to $270 billion by 2050.

However, it is possible to go even further, by transitioning to a true circular economy, adopting better practices by industrial producers, and fully managing residual waste, all of which could even generate a net gain of over $100 billion per year, argued the authors of the new report titled "Transforming Waste into Resources".

"In many rapidly growing economies, there is a debate about the increasing share of waste", said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, highlighting the "key role" of both public and private actors who can find "opportunities to create more sustainable societies".