The World Bank in 2016 estimated that cities around the world generate 2.01 billion tonnes of solid waste annually, amounting to a per capita distribution of 0.74 kilograms. Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LAC) at 6% (120 million tonnes) is the world’s lowest producer of solid waste. Based on World Bank projections, the world is expected to generate 2.59 billion tonnes of waste annually by 2030. Latin America and the Caribbean generated 231 million tonnes of waste in 2016, averaging 0.99 kilogram per capita per day with 50% of municipal waste classified as food and green waste.

Waste collection coverage for the region is at 84% on average, with collection from rural areas at an estimated 30%. Over 60% of waste is disposed of in some form of landfills, and more than 50% of waste is disposed of in sanitary landfills with environmental controls. Municipal waste generated by the Caribbean was estimated at 9.2million tonnes per annum, averaging 611,118 tonnes/ annum across the fifteen CARICOM countries. A total of 4.7 million tonnes of organic waste is generated per year averaging 317,583 tonnes per country. On average each person across the region generates approximately 1kg of organic waste per day. The region only recycles 4.5% of its waste, while Europe and central Asia recycle 31%. In 2019, the global solid waste market was estimated at US$1 trillion with a 2.30% growth forecasted up to 2026. (Solid Waste Management Market Share, Global Report PDF 2026 (gminsights.com)

As small island developing states (SIDS), a high volume of the solid waste generated by
CARICOM countries is sorted by the poor peddlers who use this as a form of economic
livelihood but much of the organic waste is left in the dumps or landfills. The region like other parts of the world is facing the challenge of incremental degradation of its soils due to climate events (wind and rain), indiscriminate or continuous use of chemical fertilizers in pursuit of increased productivity and complete removal of topsoil by the mining and construction activities. Additionally peasant farming in the region is primarily practiced on slopes and in many instances the good land husbandry practices to reduce water runoff and leaching are not practiced.

The rationale for this standard is to ensure that there are clear and measurable goals,
transparency and harmonization of requirements/specifications, to help enterprises to
benchmark and develop products that are aligned with the needs of the end-user. The purpose is to ensure an environmentally safe product that will not make the environment any worse off than before and increase confidence in the marketability of the product, increases cross border trade, increases revenue/provides an additional source of revenue. The conversion of solid organic waste particularly at the farm level will also reduce the incidence of pests and diseases as a result of increased sanitation and sustaining the bioeconomy by converting waste into value added products.