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2.4 Topic b: Collection and transfer

A number of large cities in Latin America and the Caribbean have fairly good waste collection coverage. Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Havana claim to collect essentially all of their wastes. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bogot*, Medellú‹, Caracas, Montevideo, La Paz, and Port of Spain claim more than 90% coverage. It is not clear, however, whether these figures really include collection from squatter settlements. The waste collection system of all other cities in the region is still deficient.

All large cities use conventional equipment for collection and transfer of all or part of their wastes. Side- or back-loaded compactor trucks carry out the collection process through pre-established collection routes. Compactor trucks function well in paved urban areas. However, there is a common problem throughout the region with respect to the efficient use of this equipment: both the equipment and maintenance are very expensive. Frequently, municipalities indebt themselves by purchasing these trucks without taking into account the infrastructure needed for their maintenance. Thus, a large portion of these trucks do not operate due to lack of parts or trained personnel.

In many large cities this problem has been resolved by privatizing the collection services. Waste collection is carried out by private enterprises that work under concession contracts with the local government. Administration of funds is more efficient, so the trucks operate most of the time.

Waste collection is also carried out using other means, depending on the availability of economic resources, road conditions, and socio-economic level of the collection area. Wastes are collected in regular trucks, front loaded tricycles, or carts (pulled by a tractor, animal, or person).

Regular trucks are used when compactor trucks are not working or funds do not allow for the purchase of compactor trucks. Many solid waste professionals recommend regular trucks over compactor trucks, because costs are much lower, maintenance is cheaper, and the wastes tend to be very dense, with little compactability. Still, local government officials are interested in purchasing compactor trucks, even if this implies large debts, due to the 'modern' image that this equipment brings.

Semi-motorized and manual collection systems are common in harder-to-reach areas of the cities, as well as in smaller towns. This waste collection system is done either by individuals who receive direct payment for their services, or, by waste collection cooperatives or small-scale enterprises. These small-scale waste collection enterprises are emerging in large numbers (mainly in the Andean and Central American regions) to fill a gap left by formal systems. They are privately run and work either as a concession or are contracted directly by the local community (through a neighborhood association).

In some squatter settlements in urban areas, there are small-scale enterprises that engage in pre-collection: collecting wastes and taking them to a central collection point where the municipality or solid waste authority picks them up and takes them to the disposal site. In cases where such settlements are further from urban areas, residents have in some cases established manual landfills, which are described in the "Landfills" section, below.

Small-scale enterprises dealing with waste collection in the region typically include from seven to 20 people, although Recuperar, in Colombia, has more than 700 members (although they are not formally employees).

A major problem still unresolved in many cities in the region is the frequency and efficiency of waste collection. Frequency varies all the way from daily to once a week (not including the many areas of cities which are not serviced at all). Frequency, in many cases, is not determined by technical considerations such as putrefaction rates of the wastes, weather, vehicle availability, and routing necessities, but rather by how affluent an area is.

Both collection of market wastes and street sweeping in commercial areas are most often the responsibility of the solid waste authority. In residential areas each residence is typically responsible for cleaning their part of the curb. In the case of street sweeping, small-scale enterprises have had a very important role in the region. These small-scale enterprises tend to be the first (as compared to collection and disposal enterprises) to become self-sustaining.

Transfer stations

Throughout South America, Mexico, and Costa Rica, transfer stations have been installed or are in the process of being installed. The transfer stations are usually owned and operated by the agency responsible for solid waste management in the city.

Transfer stations do not vary widely in design from those found in the technical manuals. Compactor or regular trucks arrive at the station, where they dump the wastes into large, specially designed trailers which deliver the wastes to the disposal sites. These trailers usually do not have compactors. In Bogot*, however, there is a transfer station that uses stationary compactors, and in Rio de Janeiro, wastes are deposited into a funnel system that compacts the wastes into a trailer.

The need for the transfer stations has grown significantly in the past 10 years as the distance between the city and the disposal sites grows. In cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Caracas, and Buenos Aires, more than 50% of the wastes go through a transfer station.

Transfer stations have proven to be much more cost-effective than trucks going to the landfill. Fuel costs are substantially reduced. Mileage demand on trucks is lower so that operation and maintenance costs are lower and truck lifetimes are longer.

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