Solid Waste Management in Latin America: The Role of Micro-and Small Enterprises and Cooperatives

THIS REPORT DESCRIBES the key role of micro-enterprises, small enterprises and cooperatives in solid waste collection and management in Latin American cities. Drawing on research in 89 enterprises in seven countries, it shows how small enterprises or cooperatives serve substantial proportions of the population in many cities. These enterprises generally provide a moderately priced service and are often the only service available in low-income neighbourhoods. Although they are best known for providing waste collection services, many operate in other areas such as the recovery of recyclable materials, street-sweeping, the cleansing of canals and storm drains, the maintenance of parks and other public spaces and the management of disposal sites.
The first three chapters provide an overview of solid waste management in Latin America, including the role of micro-enterprises, small enterprises and cooperatives. This covers such issues as the different types of micro and small enterprises involved in solid waste management, their primary and secondary activities, the statutory framework within which they operate, how they are financed, the technology they use, working conditions, the participation of women, and the environmental and economic contributions they make. Each of the remaining chapters is on solid waste management in different countries – Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. These include profiles of particular organizations. For instance, the chapter on Colombia includes a profile of Recuperar, a cooperative specializing in waste management, formed in 1983 in Medellin when the municipality closed the dump where 320 informal waste pickers worked. By the end of 1995, the cooperative had 917 workers, mostly engaged in the separation of recyclables at source, and recovery. Seventy per cent of the material gathered by the cooperative is recovered by its associates through the Source Separation Programme which serves industries, businesses and public and private institutions. It has contracts with various enterprises and hotels to collect their wastes. It has also begun to offer other environmental services which have produced more jobs and higher incomes.