Abstract
Material recovery from municipal solid waste (MSW) is becoming widely adopted in several developing countries. Residential solid waste is one of the most important components of MSW and the handling practices of the MSW by the generators have a major impact on the quality and quantity of the materials for recovery. This article analyzes the generation and composition of residential solid waste and the handling practices by users in three municipalities in Colombia that have a solid waste management plant (SWMP). The findings show that, although there are significant amounts of useful materials, their handling of the materials as “garbage”, the low recognition of recovery work, and the inadequate storage and source management practices, affect material recovery and the operation of SWMPs. These results may be taken as a reference for this type of municipality, because the solid waste management system and the type of operation of the SWMPs analyzed is similar to all of the SWMPs in the country as well as in other countries in the region.
Highlights
The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Colombia is undergoing a substantial evolution, changing from a period in which priority was given to collection, transport and final disposal to a gradual inclusion of material recovery in the solid waste management system [1]
The analysis shows the impact of variables such as: acknowledgement of the existence of the solid waste management plant (SWMP), the utilization and storage of the materials at home and the manner of putting out the wastes for the waste collector and the material recovery carried out at the SWMP
The pcp is lower than the average indicated by [4] for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with populations having less than 15,000 inhabitants (0.59 kg/inhabitant-day)
Summary
The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Colombia is undergoing a substantial evolution, changing from a period in which priority was given to collection, transport and final disposal to a gradual inclusion of material recovery in the solid waste management system [1]. Small municipalities happen to be those experiencing the most difficulties in the management of their solid waste [3], due to factors such as lack of trained personnel, application of inappropriate technologies, and the use of inadequate methods of finance. These actions demonstrate that the country is following the outcomes of world events, such as the Rio and Johannesburg Summits, during the last two decades
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