Assessment of a Recycling System

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Assessment of a Recycling System - The City of Buenos Aires

J o s e f i n a S o n n h a m m e r

Master of Science Thesis

Stockholm 2016

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Josefina Sonnhammer

Master of Science Thesis

STOCKHOLM 2016

PRESENTED AT

INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Supervisor:

Monika Olsson

Examiner:

Monika Olsson

- The City of Buenos Aires

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TRITA-IM-EX 2016:16 Industrial Ecology,

Royal Institute of Technology www.ima.kth.se

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Abstract

Recycling is an increasingly important part of waste management, as a measure to reduce the issues connected to the growing amount of waste in the world. An official recycling scheme has recently been implemented in the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina as a way to reduce the amount of waste that is being landfilled. The aim of this study is to assess the recycling system, using the holistic approach of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM), and establish the main influencing factors and their correlated issues. The purpose of the study is to contribute to sustainability within the area of waste management and provide a basis that can be used for future research and suggestions. The methodology included a literature review and background research, field studies and data collection. The study includes the elements of waste generation, primary disposal, collection, treatment and final disposal. It was found that the main factors that are influencing the recycling system concern technological focus, misinterpreted drivers underlying the system, conflicts between stakeholders and a lack of systematicity and flexibility. The conclusion finds that the recycling system is still in its early stage, but in need of improvements and would benefit from the more holistic approach of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management.

Keywords: waste, recycling, sustainability, Buenos Aires.

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Sammanfattning

Avfall är ett växande problem världen över, orsakat av vår moderna ekonomi och våra konsumtionsmönster. Det kräver ett effektivt och hållbart sätta hantera det avfall vars tillkomst är omöjlig att undvika. Återvinning har uppkommit som en viktig del av avfallshantering. Det syftar till att reducera mängden avfall som måste hanteras genom till exempel deponering eller förbränning. Det kan också bidra till minskat behov av extraktion av råmaterial och därmed minska belastningen på planeten.

Huvudstaden i Argentina, Buenos Aires, har nyligen implementerat ett återvinningssystem. Det är en del av deras plan för att minska mängden avfall som placeras i de nästintill fulla deponierna. Syftet med denna studie är att utvärdera återvinningssystemet i Buenos Aires och fastställa nyckelfaktorerna som influerar systemet och de resulterande problemen. Ett holistiskt synsätt som beskrivs av ”Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM)” har använts för att uppnå syftet och målen med studien. Resultatet är menat att bidra till hållbarhet inom avfallshantering och återvinning, som underlag för framtida studier samt att öka medvetenheten inom ämnet.

Metodiken som har använts inkluderade en initial litteratur‐ och bakgrunds studie och data insamling. Fältstudier i Buenos Aires genomfördes och bestod av studiebesök, intervjuer, observationer, data insamling, seminarium, experiment och diskussioner. Studien är begränsad till avfall från hushåll, institutioner, kommersiella anläggningar och från byggarbetsplatser.

Avfallshanteringen som är undersökt inkluderar uppkomst och komposition, initial sortering och deponering, insamling av avfall, transfer och behandling samt slutgiltig avskaffande.

En av de fyra huvudfaktorerna som påverkar systemet är fokuseringen på teknologi. Det resulterar i motstridande modeller och system; mellan teori och praktik och mellan den formella och den informella sektorn. Det resulterar också i att man implementerar system som har varit effektiva i andra länder och/eller situationer, men när det implementeras i Buenos Aires är det inte ordentligt anpassat till de rådande omständigheterna och resulterar i bristande och misslyckade resultat. Den andra nyckelfaktorn som hittades var missuppfattning och/eller felanvändning av drivkrafterna bakom del‐systemen. Det resulterar bland annat i en låg initial separation, felaktiga metoder för att nå uppsatta mål och påverkar vilka material som blir insamlade. Den tredje faktorn är konflikter mellan de olika intressenterna i systemet som resulterar i brist på tillit och svårigheter att samarbeta. Detta i sin tur leder till låg effektivitet och saknad av ansvarskänsla, en minskad vilja att jobba mot ett välfungerande system. Den fjärde och sista faktorn som är identifierad i denna studie är bristen på systematik och flexibilitet. Brist på systematik kan leda till reducerad kvalitet på uppgifterna som systemet ska utföra. Ett system behöver även vara flexibelt för att kunna anpassas till de rådande omständigheterna, då det annars kan hindra innovation, stödja förlegade lösningar och resultera i ekonomisk förlust.

Förslag på förbättringsåtgärder är bland annat att använda den sociala drivkraften bakom återvinning för invånarna i Buenos Aires, att undersöka finansiella incitament, att anta ett holistiskt synsätt när förändringar eller utvecklingar av avfallssystemet ska ske, där passande verktyg för att uppnå detta kan vara en hjälp, förespråka NGOs och öka insamlingen av data. Det kan även vara värdefullt att bygga upp välfungerande relationer mellan intressenterna, genom möten och workshops samt att skapa indikationer som kan återspegla resultatet av systemet på ett sätt som är relevant för alla involverade. Återvinningssystemet i Buenos Aires är fortfarande i sin linda, men kan förbättras genom lärdom av föregående misstag och framtida förbättringar kan uppnås med ett helhetstänk.

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Acknowledgements

I would first like to thank my supervisor Monika Olsson, the Director of Studies at Industrial Ecology at The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). She has been very helpful by supporting the topic of my thesis, giving me supervision and help whenever I needed it.

I would also like to give a special thanks to Maria Eugenia Quiroga, who has been a great inspiration for me. I am very thankful for her help, support and never declining energy before and during the work of this research.

Another person that I want to acknowledge is my external supervisor Diego Larre Borges, Presidente at Buenos Aires International Students (BAIS). His welcoming personality and invaluable help during my stay in Buenos Aires have been very important for my everyday work.

I would also like to thank KTH and SIDA for being granted the Minor Field Study scholarship. The knowledge and experience I have gained during the preparation course and my field studies have been invaluable. Thanks also to ÅForsk for the granted scholarship that financed part of my work.

Lastly, I would like to thank all the people who have been involved in and made this project possible: the people participating in interviews, field visits, seminars, but also my very dear friends and family that have been a great support and encouragement during this time. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you!

Josefina Sonnhammer

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List of Figures & Tables

Figure 1. Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (van de Klunder & Anschütz, 2001) ... 2

Figure 2. Map of Argentina (MOP, n.d.) ... 7

Figure 3. Map of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (Wikimedia Commons, 2006) ... 7

Figure 4. Flowchart of the waste and recyclables stream and the actors in CABA ... 11

Figure 5. Waste composition in CABA ... 12

Figure 6. Norte III Landfill ... 15

Figure 7. Stakeholder Categories (United Nations Environment Programme, 2015) ... 18

Figure 8. Flow of recyclables and the stakeholders as in the official recycling scheme ... 26

Figure 9. Double Containerisation ... 28

Figure 10. Manipulated Green Container ... 29

Figure 11. Litter around Green Container ... 29

Figure 12. Punto Verde ... 30

Figure 13. Recyclable materials in a Green Centre ... 32

Figure 14. Manual sorting of recyclable material ... 32

Figure 15. Informal Waste Pickers ... 33

Figure 16. Recyclable Materials outside the official scheme ... 35

Figure 17. Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant ... 36

Table 1. Primary and secondary data ... 5

Table 2. Solid Urban Waste Components (Secretaría de Asuntos Municipales, n.d.) ... 6

Table 3. Goals & accomplishments of Zero Waste law since 2004 (Buenos Aires Ciudad, n.d.a; CEAMSE, 2016) ... 10

Table 4. Waste Management Stakeholders ... 19

Table 5. Development of Percentage of Recyclable Materials (CEAMSE, FIUBA, 2010/2011) ... 26

Table 6. Recyclable Materials per Zone (CEAMSE, FIUBA, 2009) ... 27

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Abbreviations

AMBA – Area Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (The Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires) CABA – Ciudad Autonomus de Buenos Aires (The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires) CEAMSE ‐ Coordinación Ecológica Área Metropolitana Sociedad del Estado

EPR – Extended Producer Responsibility

FIUBA ‐ Facultad de Ingenieria Universidad de Buenos Aires (Faculty of Engineering University of Buenos Aires)

FPV – Frente para la Victoria (Front for Victory) ISWM – Integrated Sustainable Waste Management

MAYEP ‐ Ministerio de Ambiente y Espacio Publico (Ministry of Environment and Public Areas) MBT – Mechanical Biological Treatment

NGO – Non Governmental Organization NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard

PRO – Propuesta Republicana (Republican Proposal Party) SWM – Solid Waste Management

SYFSA ‐ Systematic Yet Flexible System Analysis USW – Urban Solid Waste

Monetary Conversion 1 ARS $ = 0,60 SEK 1 US $ = 8,33 SEK

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1 Introduction

Waste is a growing issue of high complexity and large volume that is caused by the development of our modern economy. Every year the cities of the world generate 1.3 billion tonnes of solid waste and it is expected to increase to 2.2 billion by 2025h (Hoornweg & Bhada‐Tata, 2012). In developing countries the generation rate is predicted to double over the next 20 years.

Developing countries are lacking sufficient economic and technological assets, making the issue more difficult to tackle. Management is highly influenced by socio‐economics and politics within a city. The cost of waste, which is already high, is expected to increase to a global cost of $375.5 billion by 2025 (Hoornweg & Bhada‐Tata, 2012). This will affect low and lower‐middle income countries the most, with up to a 5‐fold increase.

The problems connected to waste are many, including environmental, economic and social aspects. The environmental problems are, among others, emissions of greenhouse gases, pollution and flooding. It is also affecting public health and safety, especially for the waste pickers all over the world. Waste pickers are individuals or organisations that take part in removing the recyclables from the waste stream. They are most common in developing countries, and relatively recently there have been several examples where governments make efforts to include them in the formal waste management systems (Hoornweg & Bhada‐Tata, 2012).

Waste is a by‐product of the urban lifestyle, which is why urbanisation is a contributing factor to the increasing generation rate. Latin America is the most urbanized region in the world; hence waste becomes a huge task (Atilio, 2008). In Argentina, 91.9 % of the population is living in urban areas (PAN American Health Organization, 2016). The city of Buenos Aires in Argentina has approximately 3 million inhabitants, excluding around 1 million commuters that enter the city each day, causing a waste generation rate of approximately 6000 tonnes/day (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, n.d.a). With a history that consists of political instability and economic crises that has led to the current situation, the waste management system in the city of Buenos Aires is especially interesting and multifaceted.

Added to this, the city of Buenos Aires has recently adopted an Integrated Waste Management strategy in order to improve the waste management system and solve the pressing issues of the waste. As part of this they have set up a so‐called “Zero Waste” plan that aims at reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, with the ultimate goal to reduce the amount of recyclable materials that is being sent to landfills by 100%. The city has consequently made several efforts to increase the recycling, so far with little success. The partial goals have not been reached; this is why action is necessary in order to achieve improvement.

Integrated Sustainable Waste Management 1.1

The terms Integrate Sustainable Waste Management, Integrated Waste Management and Sustainable Waste Management are commonly used today. Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) is a way of approaching waste management by addressing the less obvious, but equally urgent, planning aspects. It has been developed and designed as a tool for decision makers and municipal managers to manage waste problems in their cities (van de Klunder & Anschütz, 2001).

There is a difference of the terms “integrated” and “integrated sustainable” waste management systems. The term integrated has historically focused mostly on the technical aspect, especially in developed countries. The term “integrated sustainable” has an extended context and is

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nowadays becoming more of a norm in the area of solid waste management, especially in developing countries (Wilson et al. D. C., 2013). The ISWM approach includes the dimensions of stakeholders, waste system elements and six aspects. The different aspects that are taken into account are: environmental, socio‐cultural, institutional, financial, technical and legal. It has more of a holistic approach rather than the traditional hierarchical view (Figure 1).

Van de Klunder & Anschütz (2001) defines a sustainable system as a system that is appropriate to the local conditions in which it operates in and capable of maintaining itself over time without reducing the resources it needs. They describe an integrated system as a system that uses inter‐related collection and treatment options, involves all stakeholders and takes into account the interactions between waste management systems and urban systems. Hence, they claim that sustainable and integrated are “two sides of the same coin” (van de Klunder &

Anschütz, 2001, pp. 3).

Figure 1. Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (van de Klunder & Anschütz, 2001)

Added to this, McDougall et al., (2008) state that the following are characteristics of a Sustainable Waste Management System:

• Integrated

An integrated system considers all waste and its sources, optimized waste collection, efficient sorting and appropriate or combined treatment.

• Market oriented

The effectiveness of recycling, biological and thermal treatment technologies is dependent on the demand for the outputs. Managers must play their part in building markets for their outputs, recognize their changing characteristics etc.

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• Flexibility

The social, economic and environmental conditions will always change over time and a system needs to be flexible in designing, adapting and operating to meet these changes to stay effective.

• Scale

The scale of the system has an impact on the amount of output generated, as well as costs. Usually large‐scale are more beneficial.

• Social Acceptability

The public participation is necessary for waste management systems to work effectively.

The using of the concept of ISWM to achieve successful solutions within waste management is further promoted by UN Habitat (2010), which has collected information from 20 reference cities around the world and found it useful for each waste management system, no matter the circumstances.

The Rise of Recycling 1.2

One important part of the waste system elements included in the ISWM concept is recycling.

Recycling has advanced over the past decade, with the aim to divert materials from being landfilled or incinerated and reduce the need to extract raw material. It can therefore reduce the pressure we put upon our planet by depleting the limited resources. Recycling is today not an obvious part of the waste management systems; and, where it is, there are wide varieties in how it is implemented. The success and gains from recycling are highly dependent on the settings and conditions of a specific case.

Recycling has grown to a global business with international markets and widespread supply and transportation networks. The level of development is widely varied between countries; which is why in some countries in Europe the recycling rate can be as high as 99% (Avfall Sverige, 2015).

The recycling industry consists of both the formal and informal sector. The formal sector is commonly highly developed, industrialised and keeps up with technological advances. It is built up by public and private companies, which are legally and financially backed by governmental bodies. The informal sector consists of waste pickers and its characteristics are varying, it can be unorganized, small‐scale and low paid as well as being organised and registered. Latin America is one region of the world where the informal sector is the most organized, where waste pickers have been organized into cooperatives working together with the formal system (Ezeah et al., 2013).

The recycling, both formal and informal, plays a big role in the waste management systems all over the world. It involves various stakeholders and contains environmental, economic, social, technical, legal and political aspects. It is likely that the industry will continue to grow as well as playing a big part in working towards solving the issue with the growing amount of waste worldwide.

Aims & Objectives 1.3

The purpose of this study is to contribute to sustainability within the area of waste management, with an emphasis on recycling. This study could be used as a basis for further research in the area, as well as generalizing and discussed in relation to other cases. The topic is highly relevant and it is urgent to further raise awareness about the issues it contains, which is something this report could contribute to.

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The aim of this study is to assess the recycling system that has been implemented as part of the Integrated Waste Management plan in the city of Buenos Aires and to establish the main issues connected to it. The objectives are to outline the current situation of both the waste and recycling system, to obtain information about the waste and recyclable material flows and their characteristics in the city of Buenos Aires and to use this knowledge to assess the recycling system with an approach based on Integrated Sustainable Waste Management. From these, the main influencing factors and their corresponding issues can be assessed. With the knowledge gained from the previous objectives the challenges and opportunities of the recycling practices in Buenos Aires can be established and from these, measures of how to improve the situation in the future are suggested.

Methodology 1.4

The research has been carried out using a system perspective. When applying system thinking, all factors that are contributing to a particular activity and the relationships between these factors are being considered. Draper L. Kauffman (1980, pp.1) describes a system as “a collection of parts which interact with each other to function as a whole”. If the focus is put upon one part of a system, there is a risk of misinterpreting and overlooking valuable information. The application of a system perspective has therefore been seen as a reliable way of approaching the research question, since the waste management system is consisting of several sub‐systems, recycling being one of them. The different methods that have been used during this study are a literature review, three months of field studies and primary and secondary data collection, which are further described in the following sections.

1.4.1 Background Study

The background study served as a basis for the research. A literature review of waste management, with special emphasis on developing countries was carried out in the beginning of the project. This included research about recycling and the informal sector of waste management. The case of the city of Buenos Aires has been further studied by investigating previous work that has been done about the topic. Information about Argentina and Buenos Aires was also included in this study, to better understand the conditions surrounding the recycling system.

1.4.2 Data Collection

In order to reach the aim and objectives, collection of primary and secondary data was carried out. Primary data is data obtained or conducted during the research and secondary data is existing information, which was obtained by an extensive research of academic literature and other documents. The sources and type of data (quantitative or qualitative) that have been used during this study are described in Table 1.

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Table 1. Primary and secondary data

Quantitative data Qualitative data Primary Sources Observations Observations

Interviews Discussion

Participant observation Experiment

Secondary Sources Official statistics Previous surveys Maps

Previous studies Literature Newspapers

Documentary, photos, film, video Seminars

1.4.3 Field Studies

The field visits were carried out during the three months field studies in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

They included visits to the following facilities/sites:

• Complejo Ambiental Norte III (Landfill Norte III) that is managed by CEAMSE.

• Estación de Transferencia de Colegiales (Transfer Station in Colegiales) managed by CEAMSE.

• Centro de Reciclaje de Villa Soldati (Recycling Centre in Villa Soldati) run by the City Government.

• Centro Verde Retiro Norte (Green Centre in North Retiro) managed by the cooperative El Ceibo, where the classification and separation of recyclable material is carried out.

• Punto Verde en Plaza Palermo Viejo (Green Point in Palermo) where citizens of Buenos Aires can dispose recyclable materials.

• Biblioteca de CEAMSE, which is an archive and library managed by CEAMSE.

Everyday observation was also done, including observations of containers for waste and recyclable materials, the work of waste pickers, waste collection etc. Attendance at a seminar about

valorization about sub‐products in a circular economy (“Jornada Tecnica n 12 “ Valorización de subproductos en una economía circular” by Conexion Reciclado, ARS (Asociación para el studio de los Residuos Sólidos), CEMPRE (Compromiso Empresarial por el Reciclaje) and Universidad Isalud”) was also a part of the field studies.

1.4.4 Interviews

12 open‐ended interviews were held with stakeholders from the following sectors:

• Governmental

• State‐owned enterprise

• Media

• Cooperative

• Independent Waste Picker

• Public

• NGO’s

• Scientific community

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The interviews were based on a several questions that was developed in order to cover areas of interest and gain the appropriate information. This was continuously adapted, before and during an interview, according to the sector the interviewees belonged to. Interviewees are anonymous in this study due to the sensitivity of the subject. Information gained during the interviews will therefore be referenced as information gained during interview with person from the specific sector he/she represents. Added to these interviews, informal conversations and discussions also served as a source for information. These conversations were held with people from the governmental sector and other divisions of the public sector.

1.4.5 Experiment

The project also included a smaller, informal observational experiment of promoting segregation at source in a 10‐person household. This was done by first providing information and educating the people living in the house followed by implementing tools and equipment to enable recycling in a correct manner. The results from this experiment were used to obtain information about possible obstacles and opportunities for separation at source as well as insights in opinions about the recycling in Buenos Aires. They are not seen as representative behaviour and opinions of the public sector, but rather as a qualitative investigation used to underline other statements and as indicators towards some of the areas of issue.

Limitations 1.5

The waste management system covers the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, which the city of Buenos Aires is a part of. However, the recycling system has only been implemented in the city of Buenos Aires why the limitation is set to this area.

The type of waste that has been studied in this research is Solid Urban Waste, where the definition established in “Gestión Integral de Residuos Solids Urbanos” by Secretaría de Asuntos Municipales (n.d.) is used (Table 2). The definition of Solid Urban Waste is “waste that is generated in private homes, and also waste of similar composition which is generated in other areas such as shops, offices, service companies and industries”.

Table 2. Solid Urban Waste Components (Secretaría de Asuntos Municipales, n.d.)

Source Place and form of generation Type

Domestic Households Food waste, carton, plastic, textile,

leather, garden waste, aluminium, tin and other metals, small home

appliances, batteries, oils and hazardous waste.

Commercial Restaurants, bares, stores, general businesses, workshops.

Paper, carton, glass, food, metals, hazardous waste.

Institutional Schools, hospitals,

municipalities, local agencies, health centres, etc.

Similar to commercial sources.

Construction and demolition

New public construction, remodelling or expanded public construction.

Soil, debris, wood, concrete, soot, etc.

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2 The City of Buenos Aires

The chosen study area of this research is Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Buenos Aires was chosen as a study area since the waste situation is especially urgent and the socio‐economic and political conditions surrounding it makes it interesting from several perspectives. Since it is the capital of Argentina it has a great importance to the country and a successful recycling system could serve as a driver for improvement in other parts of the country as well. Recently it has been globally recognised for its intention of achieving “Zero Waste”. In 2014, C40 & Siemens City awarded them with the City Climate Leadership Award for its solid waste management program. The ISWM approach states that a waste management system needs to be adapted to the specific circumstances that are surrounding it. Therefore, the following sections will provide a brief background and information about the chosen study area.

Geography & Climate 2.1

Buenos Aires is located in the central‐east parts of Argentina, on the western bank of Rio de la Plata (Figure 2). Buenos Aires is divided into three areas: the province, the metropolitan area and the city. Figure 3 shows The Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA), which holds around 13 million inhabitants and The city of Buenos Aires (CABA) is estimated to inhabit roughly 3 million people, with 1 million commuters added each day (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, n.d.a).

AMBA is consisting of 24 districts (distritos), CABA being one of them. The city of Buenos Aires is divided into 15 communes (comunas) and consists of 48 districts (barrios). (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, n.d.a)

Figure 2. Map of Argentina (MOP, n.d.)

Figure 3. Map of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (Wikimedia Commons, 2006)

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The city of Buenos Aires has humid subtropical climate that is mild all year around. The average annual temperature is 18℃, but the temperature varies between 8 – 40 ℃, depending on season, and humidity ranging between 75‐90%. There is no rain season, but it rains more frequently during the spring and autumn months giving an annual rainfall of 1146 mm (climatemps.com, 2015).

Politics 2.2

Argentina is a federal republic, made up of 23 provinces, a federal district and more than 1000 municipalities. Elections for president are held every fourth year. The political history of Argentina is turbulent, influenced by dictatorship, corruption and rapid changes of leaders.

Following an economic crisis in 2001 the then president Fernando de la Rúa resigned, partly as a consequence of a riot connected to the crisis that caused the death of 25 people. Within a time period of two weeks, five different presidents were elected and quickly resigned. Nestor Kirchner for the “Frente para la Victoria (FPV)” party was elected in 2003 and in 2007 his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner succeeded him on the presidential post. The current party, the right‐centre Republican Proposal party (Propuesta Republicana) (PRO) led my Mauricio Macri, was elected in November 2015. (BBC, 2016)

Each province has its own constitution and decides the relative autonomy of the municipalities, causing varying independence of some cities and district. The municipalities in general have less power and financial strength. Party politics at the national level reflects back on both the

provincial and municipal level. A governor over the province is elected each fourth year and also a mayor for the municipality (Burton, 2005). Macri was the previous mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, starting his candidate period in 2007. The current mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta of the PRO party was elected in December 2015.

Economics 2.3

Argentina has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than US$ 540 billion, which makes them one of the largest economies in Latin America. An economic collapse caused a deep recession in 2001 and since then it has been going up and down, with a continuous down‐going trend since 2010. During 2015 the economic situation was worsened, particularly due to the deteriorating economic situation in the neighbour country Brazil. The growth for 2015 was estimated to 0.5%.

(The World Bank, 2015a). The change of government that occurred in November 2015 has already had impacts on the economy; prices have been raised, sometimes with an increase of more than 100%.

Corruption is a major challenge in Argentina. This is why they rank 107 out of 175 in Transparency International’s “Corruption Perceptions Index” (Transperency International , 2016). The cost of corruption between 1990 and 2013 was estimated to over US$6.2 billion, having huge social and economic impact on the country. It is affecting the quality and efficiency of public service, such as education health and transportation. Macri has said that he will be

“implacable with corruption, especially with my officials” (Lynch & Fioriti, 2015).

History of Waste in Buenos Aires 2.4

From the time when Buenos Aires was founded in 1580 until the 19^th century, waste was dumped on the street or in holes in the ground. The implementation of common health care by the municipality started in the mid‐19^th century, why the dumping of waste in the streets became an issue since it caused a threat towards human health. The invented solution was to transport the waste to an area south of Buenos Aires where it was being burnt. It is from this time that the phenomenon of waste picking is known to have appeared (Peña, 2015).

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In 1910 the first incinerator was installed and by the year of 1930 there were three communal incineration facilities, along with open dumps where waste was being burned. The city kept growing and along with it the amount of garbage and its related issues of environmental pollution, odour, pests and limitation of space. Around 17 000 domestic incinerators were installed as a solution to the growing problem (Ledesma Clavell & de Prat Gay, 2010). The pollution that the burning of waste caused made the Municipality of Buenos Aires prohibit incineration and closing all facilities that were active in 1976. At the same time, the activity of waste picking was also made illegal. (CEAMSE, n.d.b).

The new strategy for final disposal of waste was landfills. This initiated the establishment of the governmental enterprise “Coordinación Ecológica Área Metropolitana Sociedad del Estado”

(CEAMSE). With a growing awareness of the issues connected to waste, the policies changed worldwide, impacting CEAMSE to apply the concept of “Environmental Complex” (Complejo Ambiental), i.e. sanitary landfills, in 1990 (Peña, 2015). These sanitary landfills are controlled in order to minimize the problems associated with waste, such as pollution, odour and release of greenhouse gases.

From 1998‐2002 Argentina was suffering from an economic recession, known as the Great Depression. Political, economic and social crises resulted in unemployment and poverty (Ciblis et al., 2002). The devaluation of the peso in 2003 triggered the opening of the recycling market.

Hundreds of thousands of people became dependent on the collecting and reselling of recycled items such as used paper, cardboard and plastics in order to survive (Carré & Morin, 2011).

These people working in the streets of Buenos Aires are commonly known as “Cartoneros”. In 2002 the city of Buenos Aires officially recognized the importance of the Cartoneros for achieving reduction of the waste and decided to include their work in the public service. As a measure, they formulated Law 992 that aims at incorporating them into the formal system and the cartoneros were given the official name of “Urban Recyclers” (Recicladores Urbanos) or

“Urban Recoverers” (Recuperaderos Urbanos) (Suárez et al., 2010b).

Today, the system is dependent on around 10,000 waste pickers that are doing the work of recycling in the city. Every day they collect approximately 1000 tonnes, which equals around 17% of the total amount generated (Robinson, 2014). During the last decade the cartoneros have organized themselves in cooperatives with the aim to get recognition for the work they are doing, get better market prices for materials and to improve working conditions. Today, around 5000 cartoneros are members of 12 cooperatives in Buenos Aires. The government have provided them with facilities, Green Centres (Centros Verdes), where they can carry out their part of the recycling work.

The city of Buenos Aires formed in January 2006, by this time led by Macri, Law 1.854 ‐ Integrated Solid Waste Management of Solid Urban Waste (Ley 1.854 Gestión Integral de Residuos Sólidos Urbanos), commonly known as “Zero Waste” (Basura Zero). It is suggesting measures that can be taken in order to decrease generation of waste, raise awareness of the importance of source segregation, implementing recycling, decrease the toxicity of waste and promote responsibility of the producer. It also includes the formalization of the cartoneros.

Contradictious, a reflection of this times attitude towards Cartoneros is the statement Macri made during his election campaign where he accused the Cartoneros of having a “criminal attitude” and for “stealing from the trash”. He promised that if he were to be elected he would remove them from the streets and imprison them (Chronopoulos, 2006).

The Zero Waste law set up several goals to be achieved based on the 1 497 656 tonnes of waste that was generated during 2004 in Buenos Aires. The ultimate aim is to reduce the amount of

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recyclable and usable materials disposed in landfills with 100% by 2020. The goals and the achievements so far are summarized in Table 3 (Buenos Aires Ciudad, n.d.a; CEAMSE, 2016).

Added to these goals, the law includes a ban of incineration of municipal solid waste, both with and without energy recovery, within and outside the city, until a 75% reduction in waste going to landfill is achieved (Morin & Allen, 2012).

Table 3. Goals & accomplishments of Zero Waste law since 2004 (Buenos Aires Ciudad, n.d.a; CEAMSE, 2016)

Year Goals

Reduction rate

Goals for maximum tonnes of waste sent to landfill

Actual reduction rate

Actual tonnes of waste sent to landfill

2004 Reference amount of Zero Waste Law 1 497 656

2010 30 % 1 048 359 ‐39% 2 086 740

2012 50 % 748 828 ‐42% 2 131 078

2013 No set goal No set goal ‐15% 1 520 263

2014 No set goal No set goal 15% 1 279 338

2015 No set goal No set goal 23% 1 153 380

2017 75 % 374 414 N/A N/A

When the goal for 2012 was missed, along with the threat of saturated landfills and a strike of the main waste collectors causing the waste to litter the streets of Buenos Aires, a crisis occurred. The provincial governor Daniel Scioli of the then governing FPV party declared that by the end of 2014 the province would no longer accept waste from the city, adding a political aspect to the conflict as well. As an effort to solve the problem, an act was formed and signed by mayor Macri and Scioli in December 2012 where the reduction goals were updated, with the new partial goals of achieving a reduction rate of 49% by January 2015, 53% by January 2016 and 72% by June 2017 (Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, 2016).

A projection made in 2013 by Camara Argentina de la Construccion (2013) shows a constant increase in waste generation for Buenos Aires in the future. A conclusion that can be drawn from Table 3 and these projections, taking into account that the goals have not been reached so far, is that it is not likely that the upcoming goals will be reached in time.

With the recent shift of government, changes are expected to happen in Argentina and Buenos Aires, including the management of waste. According to Peña (2015) the goals for the proximate 20 years are:

• Meet the deadlines and goals and of Law 1.854 until a reduction rate of 75% from the baseline of waste sent to the landfills have been reached.

• Treat 100% of the waste before it is disposed in the landfills.

• That all inhabitants of CABA will have a sustainable solution for managing the waste generated in the households.

• Keep the city clean in public areas.

• Formalize the work carried out by the cooperatives to establish a system of inclusive, efficient and sustainable waste collection.

• Promote a circular economy for all levels of production.

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3 Solid Waste Management

The following section will cover the concept of Solid Waste Management (SWM), including the generation, composition, collection, transfer, transportation, recycling, recover, pre‐treatment, treatment and final disposal of waste. These are also the Waste System Elements that are one of the three dimensions of ISWM. These elements and how they function in Buenos Aires will be presented in relation to these practices, as well as legal framework and stakeholders. A flowchart of the waste and recyclable stream and the actors in CABA gives an overview of the flow of waste and recyclables in the city of Buenos Aires, starting from generation to final disposal (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Flowchart of the waste and recyclables stream and the actors in CABA

Generation & Composition 3.1

The generation rate and composition of waste has a strong correlation to income levels, education level, geographical location, season, culture, etcetera (Letcher & Vallero, 2011). There is also a strong connection between the GDP and MSW generation of a country. A study made by Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development (2006) shows the clear correlation between provincial GDP and Urban Solid Waste (USW) generation rate in Argentina. It is common that the largest part of the waste is organic, especially in low‐income countries (Letcher & Vallero, 2011). High amounts of glass, metals and plastics are connected to a lifestyle associated with high‐income populations. The composition of waste will also affect the choice of waste management strategies and possible use of technologies, along with the possible recycling rate.

In CABA the waste generation rate is estimated to be 1.3 kg/day/person (Dirección General de Estadística y Censo Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, 2014). The composition of the waste is shown in Figure 5, based on data from a study made by the Engineering Faculty of The University of Buenos Aires (FIUBA) and CEAMSE in 2010/2011. The waste investigated in the

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study is obtained at the transfer stations, and does therefore not include waste such as construction waste or special waste, e.g. e‐waste, hazardous waste etc.

Figure 5. Waste composition in CABA (Data from CEAMSE, FIUBA, 2010/2011)

The volumetric weight is 255 kg/m³ and the percentage of material that has potential for recycling is ranging between 15‐20% in CABA. However, taking into account the need of participation of the public, the study by FUIBA estimates that the possible percentage of materials that could be recycled from the waste stream is 14%. This is based upon a public participation rate of 70%, using numbers from cities where recycling strategies have been implemented for more than 20 years. Hence, it must be considered as a very optimistic estimation. The amount of waste that is compostable is around 40% and the amount of waste that could be incinerated is approximately 70% in CABA. The water content is ranging between 44‐48%. The calorific value of the wet waste is estimated to around 3000 kcal/kg and for the dry waste it is around 6700 kcal/kg. (CEAMSE, FIUBA, 2010/2011)

Segregation at Source & Primary disposal 3.2

The initial separation of the recyclables and the organic fraction of the waste are important in order to avoid contamination and to retain the quality of the materials (Wilson et al. D. C., 2009). It also reduces the health and safety risks for waste pickers and for the ecosystem exposed to the treatment and final disposal. In high‐income countries there is commonly a high rate of segregation at source, while the informal recycling is often dominant in many developing countries. Increasing the segregation at source is a critical component to integrate the informal sector into the formal waste management system, both for social and quality reasons.

In the city of Buenos Aires there are several reasons found to why the segregation at source is low. Some that were found during discussions with inhabitants of the city were lack of knowledge, lack of space to place separation bins inside homes and the need to clean (e.g.

plastic containers before disposing them in the recycling bin). This process is by some

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considered to require too much effort, making them less willing to recycle. The results from the informal experiment also showed that even if there are two bins, one for recyclable and one for non‐recyclable waste, with clear instructions of how to separate correctly written above, people still tend to put mixed waste in both bins.

The waste in CABA generated by households should be disposed in the green and black containers that are placed in chosen parts of the city. The black containers are for the “wet”

fraction of the waste (non‐recyclable materials) and the green containers are for the “dry”

fraction of the waste (recyclable materials). The segregation of the waste and primary disposal is the responsibility of private persons, but few are separating the waste at home before disposing it. It is very common to find mixed waste in both green and black containers. There are also problems with waste being spread around the containers. During an interview it was found that historically, this has been blamed on the waste pickers, claiming that when they are going through the waste, looking for a certain material, they cause the spreading of other materials that are of no interest to them according. Some containers are in bad conditions, e.g.

vandalism in the form of scribbles and removal of plastic flaps covering the disposal entry.

Problems that can occur from this are odour, pests and undesirable physical appearance causing a negative view of the containerisation system.

Collection 3.3

The waste collection is usually referred to as the collection of waste from communal bins and households. The quality of waste collection will be dependent on factors such as frequency of collection, infrastructure, vehicles, routes etc. The collection is where the contact point between waste generators and the WMS occurs. This relationship needs to be carefully managed since they are both dependent on each other to work effectively.

To collect waste and transfer it to the final disposal is usually the responsibility of municipalities, but it requires the participation of waste generators. They need to separate the waste in a correct manner and dispose it correctly, considering place and time for collection. The collection phase is historically known to be the most expensive part in the waste management chain why it is important to have it as efficient as possible.

The waste collection from the green and the black bins are carried out differently in the city of Buenos Aires. The black bins are under the responsibility of private firms that have signed contracts with the municipality, usually with a timeframe of 10 years. CABA has been divided into seven zones, where the private firms are responsible for the collection in six of the zones and the municipality in one zone. The collection of waste is scheduled to Sunday – Friday 20.00 – 21.00. However, the collection is occurring at other times as well. The collection of waste disposed in the green bins is the responsibility of the cooperatives, which will be further explained in Section 5.

Transfer, Storage and Packaging 3.4

The collected waste from the black containers is transported to transfer stations (Estaciones de Transferencia). At the waste transfer stations the waste is compressed and loaded into trucks with bigger capacity, which are then responsible for the transportation to the final disposal site.

There are five transfer stations located in Buenos Aires. The purposes of the transfer stations are to reduce CO2 caused by the transporting of waste, create savings in work and energy and cost savings of equipment and wearing (CEAMSE, n.d.a).

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Central Sorting 3.5

The most common technique of sorting is handpicking from a belt (McDougall et al., 2008, pp.

228). The sorting rate is dependent on the working conditions; standing or sitting, reaching distance, light etc. These schemes are labour intensive, and could thus be used as an opportunity for job creation. The downside is the health and safety issues connected to manual sorting and as a result the mechanisation trend is increasing. This is a common method that is used in Buenos Aires, both in the informal and formal sector.

Mechanical sorting can be divided into different categories; mechanical disassembly, separation by particle properties (shape, size) and separation by material property (colour, magnetism).

Some examples are screening, which is the process of separation by particle size, air classification, which separates the light fraction from the heavy fraction, sink/float separation and magnetic separation. Some of these types of technologies are found within the treatment facilities that are in operation in Buenos Aires. The purpose of central sorting, whether manual or mechanical, is to separate materials that have enough value to make the recovery worthwhile (McDougall et al., 2008, pp. 227‐240)

Final Disposal 3.6

There are different techniques of final disposal such as landfilling, incineration, composting, gasification, pyrolisation, etcetera. The most relevant ones for Buenos Aires are landfilling and incineration and these two will therefore be further explained in the following sections.

3.6.1 Landfill

Sanitary landfilling is defined by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as a controlled operation in which MSW is deposited in defined layers, each layer being compacted and covered with soil before depositing the next layer (Letcher & Vallero, 2011, pp. 469). A sanitary landfill differs from a landfill, also known as a dump or tip, because the latter makes no effort to separate the waste from the underlying soil. A dump or a tip usually does not include the coverage of waste, making it more prone to pollute.

CEAMSE are operating 4 landfills: Ensenada, Gonzáles Catán, Norte III and Villa Dominico. Villa Dominico was closed in 2004, today holding 47 000 000 m³tonnes of waste (International Finance Corporation World Bank Group, 2006). Norte III is the only landfill receiving waste from CABA, estimated to be around 6 2000 tonnes/day. Added to this it receives around 9000 tonnes of waste from AMBA, which represents 90% of the total generation in the area. Due to its large size it has been separated into three parts, A, B, and C. Out of these, A and B are now closed and C is still in operation (Figure 6). The cost of depositing waste at the landfill is US$50 per ton, paid by the City Government of Buenos Aires. It was estimated to have reached its full capacity by the end of 2012, then a new estimation was made to April 2015, but it is still receiving waste.

CEAMSE recently signed an agreement with the Argentinian Army (Ejército Argentino) that will dispense a new area to CEAMSE that can be used for landfilling. This area of 161 hectares is estimated to be able to receive waste during 2 years and 9 months, assuming it has a capacity of 13 million tonnes (Brodersen, 2014).

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Figure 6. Norte III Landfill

In connection to the landfill, several processing technologies for different types of waste have been installed, e.g. a tyre recycling plant, composting plant and degasification plants that generate energy (ISWA, 2012). As a part of the policy to increase material recovery and reduce waste sent to landfills a Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant was installed in 2012. The objectives were to treat 20% of the waste generated in the city and to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills through recycling, but also to use the treated organic fraction as primary covering of the landfill. The MBT plant has a treatment capacity of 1100 tonnes/day (Marcelo E.

Rosso, 2015).

3.6.2 Incineration

Incineration is a common method of final disposal. The advantages are that it is an effective way to reduce volume of waste and need for landfill space. The facility can be located near the centre of waste generation, thus reducing transportation costs. Energy can be generated from the incineration process and incineration provides the best way of eliminating methane gas emissions from waste management processes. The disadvantages are high investments and operation costs and it requires skilled personnel to run it. The composition of waste plays a role in the effectiveness of an incineration plant. Air pollution is a major problem and the pollution controlling techniques are expensive; however, different policies apply for different countries.

The ash that is produced from the incineration process needs to be properly handled and disposed, and thus the need for a landfill is still present. (McDougall et al., 2008, pp. 401)

In the case of Buenos Aires, incineration is prohibited and only when a 75% reduction rate of waste sent to landfill has been reached can other options be investigated. There is no explanation to why it shall be investigated only when a 75% reduction rate has been achieved.

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Recently there has been an increasing interest in thermal valorization (another term for incineration) as an option of final disposal in Buenos Aires (Greenpeace, 2013). However, there is still a strong opposition among the public caused by the Not‐In‐My‐Back‐Yard (NIMBY) effect, the phenomenon of the public opposing new projects, partly based on previous bad experiences. NGO’s such as Greenpeace and Global Anti‐Incinerator Alliance (GAIA) are further enforcing this opinion.

Open Dumps 3.7

There is still uncontrolled dumping occurring all over AMBA. According to Suárez et al. (2010a) there are 126 known illegal dumping sites. However, it can be noted that in CABA the occurrences of open dumps are not as frequent as in AMBA. There are two main reasons to why these illegal dumps exist: the cost savings of not using formal disposal sites and the lack/inefficiency of the collection of waste in certain areas. There is also the type of open dumps where informal waste pickers are burning certain products to obtain a specific material, e.g.

copper, in order to re‐sell it. The remaining materials are simply left on the ground where it was burnt.

Policies & Legal Aspects 3.8

Policy and legal measures are one of the aspects of ISWM. The ISWM approach emphasizes decentralization, developments of strategic plans, replacing legislation that is contrary to ISWM principles and strengthening the legal enforcement and inspection structures, among others (van de Klunder & Anschütz, 2001). Strategic thinking has not been the starting point for the development of waste management in countries all over the world. The development of the systems has been a process, usually starting with problem recognition or even crises, followed by legislation, policies and infrastructure. It is important to acknowledge the driving forces behind having a well‐functioning waste management system. Since waste management is of great concern to the public, it requires public policies to be developed that establish goals, guides, and principles. There are several policies and legal aspects that are regulating the waste management system in Buenos Aires, which is why it is important to outlay these to see how they affect the system. These occur on national, provincial and municipal levels. The most relevant laws and policies, considering all levels, are described below.

National Constitution ‐ Art 41 (Constitución Nacional – Art. 41)

The law establishes that all inhabitants have the right to a healthy environment, suitable for human development and for productive activities that meet the present needs without compromising with the needs of future generations (Peña, 2015).

Law 25.916/04 – Domestic Waste Management (National) (Gestión de Residuos Sólidos Domicilliarios)

Establishing the minimum environmental protection for the management of household waste, defined as elements, objects or substances generated by the processes, consumption and development of human activities and that are discarded and/or abandoned by residential, urban, commercial, health, industrial or institutional origin, with an exception of those that are regulated by specific rules. It covers the generation, primary disposal, collection, transportation, treatment, transfer and final disposal. (Secretaría de Asuntos Municipales, n.d.)

Assessment of a Recycling System - The City of Buenos Aires