Recycling progress in the Mediterranean region

摘要

Given the pressures on global water resources and the critical problems now being faced in many countries, it is no longer possible to justify the traditional approach to water of 'use once and throw away'. Those were more or less the words used by John Anderson, chairman of the IWA Specialist Group on Wastewater Reclamation, Recycling and Reuse, when he spoke at an IWA Regional Symposium on Water Recycling" in late September. And few would argue nowadays with his accompanying comment that 'conservation, reuse and recycling can greatly increase the benefits obtainable from limited supplies of fresh water'. Only by that approach can man's impact on a finite resource be limited and reduced and, as Anderson pointed out, there has been enormous progress in that direction over the last 20 years. But much greater resort to recycling will be needed in the coming years and, for that to happen, there are several areas in which reuse planning and practice must be further developed and improved.