A Study and Factor Identification of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Mexico City

Francisco Gutiérrez Galicia,Ricardo Tejeida Padilla,Ana Lilia Coria Páez

doi:10.3390/su11226305

Francisco Gutiérrez Galicia, Ricardo Tejeida Padilla + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226305

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Nov 9, 2019
Citations: 16	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Instituto Politécnico Nacional

Abstract

Mexico City generates 12 thousand tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) per day, which places it as one of the cities that produces the most MSW in the world. However, the treatments used in the city are not enough for recycling materials and organics valorization of at least 45% of the MSW, which is the minimum for a medium-high-income city. To put in a global context the deficiency in Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) in Mexico City and evaluate the policies that have been implemented thus far, Wasteaware benchmark Indicators for Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) were used to obtain a desired profile for the comprehensive MSWM in Mexico City. The Wasteaware Benchmark Indicators have been tested in more than 50 cities around the world. The results showed that in Mexico City, certain aspects of governance present the most considerable delay and, at the same time, that there are certain areas of opportunity to improve the efficiency of MSWM in its physical aspects, such as collection systems or treatment services.

Highlights

The management of this Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a challenge for City government, Sustainability 2019, 11, 6305 in terms of both the amount generated and the density of traffic and the lack of adequate areas to carry out its treatment and final disposal according to existing environmental regulations
To assess the Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) in Mexico City with the reference indicators, the level of national income in the period 2011–2017 was investigated, based on the statistics generated by the World Bank for the Gross National Income per capita calculated by the Atlas method, which remained at a medium-high level [40]
In Mexico City the greatest area of opportunity in the MSWM is in the infrastructure, as only 32% of the collector vehicles are in good condition and most of the MSW is still being sent for final disposal in sanitary landfills and not for thermal treatments, compost or anaerobic digestion, as is the case in the main cities of countries with medium-high and high income [21,49]

Summary

Introduction

Waste generated per person per day averages 0.74 kg but ranges widely, from 0.11 to 4.54 kg [1] This problem is more sensitive in developing countries because the total amount of MSW has dramatically increased due to rapid urbanization and industrialization in the cities of these countries [2]. Mexico City generates the most waste after the New York region: 12 thousand tons of MSW per day [15] The management of this MSW is a challenge for City government, Sustainability 2019, 11, 6305 in terms of both the amount generated and the density of traffic and the lack of adequate areas to carry out its treatment and final disposal according to existing environmental regulations. For countries with medium and low income, the scale is less strict, since they have greater difficulty in acquiring new technologies, and some of the more rigorous scales cannot adjust to the composition of the MSW of the countries with lower income where the organic fraction predominates [33]

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Conclusion