Barriers to a solid waste management system in a greater metropolitan area of a Latin American upper middle-income economy – The case study of San José, Costa Rica in 2018Gabriel Garro Reinhardt
27 November 2018
Solid waste management is one of the major challenges that urbanized cities in developing countries face due to increasing waste generation rates; also, scarce studies address the challenges of waste management in urbanized regions such as the metropolitan areas of Latin American economies. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to study the barriers for solid waste management in the metropolitan area of San José. Data was collected from various sources such as scientific literature, official reports, legislation and the implementation of practical research. The latter was carried out through a case study using structured in-depth interviews with professionals in charge on waste management in mid-large privately-owned businesses, autonomous public institutions, alongside with key governmental officers from the Congress, The Ministries of Health and Environment and an international cooperation agency. The Waste Management System Performance and the Integrated and Sustainable Waste Management represented the models used as the main frameworks to associate the barriers and to establish a relationship among their features to sustainable development. Even though private firms and public institutions revealed suitable practices on their solid waste management, findings evidence waste segregation issues and extremely low recycling rates. To reach the ambitious goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral country of the world by 2021, the Central Government should bestow solid waste, its management and recycling higher political importance. Thus, it is recommended to reinforce control mechanisms and to focus on inter-institutional coordination for coherent action plans. In addition, the Costa Rican Ministry of Health should implement stronger education towards the value of waste, its segregation and the appropriate treatment methods.