Wastewater as a resource, not as waste: Eye on Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Water Week

The Inter-American Development Bank is coordinating the Latin American and the Caribbean sessions during the World Water Week in Sweden’s capital, focusing on the need to adopt wastewater reuse practices to meet the region’s present and future water needs

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Latin America and the Caribbean has the potential to lead a revolution in the management of wastewater as a resource by reusing it in agricultural and industrial activities, and by promoting circular economy models while at the same time striving to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 by the year 2030.

This is the main message of the Latin America and the Caribbean Focus at the World Water Week to be held in Stockholm from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1. The meeting, to be attended by government and civil society representatives as well as academics from around the world under the motto “Water and waste: reducing and reusing”, will assess each region’s progress in ensuring access to water and sanitation. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) coordinates the Latin America and the Caribbean Focus, which highlights the region’s challenges and opportunities in this area.

Today 77 percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean lack access to safe sanitation. Only an estimated 28 percent of the wastewater collected by public sewers receives some kind of treatment before being discharged to the environment.

Eye on Latin America and the Caribbean will hold five theme sessions on issues such as the region’s potential to foster a wastewater treatment revolution, opportunities to promote circular economy models for the industrial sector, connectivity to sanitary networks and fecal sludge management, and the region’s progress in reusing wastewater. The government of Argentina will also present its roadmap for sustainable management of water resources.