Urban Solid Waste Management

Abstract

This Municipal Waste Management Manual is the result of the concern and activity of many people who work in the sector. Starting with the Metropolis Commission 3 training courses devoted to municipal waste management, we gathered together the material of most interest to the different groups at which it is aimed.The Manual is divided into five basic chapters: The Problem of Municipal Waste and How to Manage It;Waste Recycling, Composting and Methanization;Waste Incineration and Controlled Dumping; Legislation and Human and Financial Resources and Environmental Education, Communication and Public Participation. With this material we aim to provide a support that will be useful to the countries and cities that have yet to begin or that need to improve management in the vast field of waste. Using original situations that differed in terms of each country as the starting point, our aim was to work toward improved levels of organization and management of municipal solid waste in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. As a good practices guide, the Manual provides information on technologies, processes and methodologies successfully applied in other countries and which directly impact resource use, waste assessment and the preservation of the environment. Because the Manual was mainly prepared in Barcelona, it devotes most attention to the waste-management program in place in Catalonia.The legislation and regulations set out herein also refer to those currently in force in Catalonia and should thus be complemented with those in force in each country. With the aim of providing plural visions and realities of other contexts, the Manual introduces practices in municipal solid waste management in a number of Metropolis member cities, such as the states of Mexico and Jalisco and the cities of Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Quito, Cuenc