Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Argentina

Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Argentina

Atilio Armando Savino, Ernesto de Titto
Copyright: © 2020 |Pages: 34
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-0198-6.ch001
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Abstract

A general picture of waste management in Argentina is presented, taking into consideration the obligations of the state to guarantee the collection of household waste and to dispose of it in authorized sites and the generator's responsibility on the management of hazardous waste. Separate boxes are presented to present the activities performed by organized waste pickers and by CEAMSE, a state-owned company responsible for waste disposition in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. Waste management is essential for a sustainable development agenda. As witnessed in Argentina, this requires (1) closing open dumpsites, (2) a reliable and complete waste collection service, and (3) proper treatment of all waste streams. It is thus clear the need to (1) promote a circular economy; (2) tackle the management of organic waste; (3) ensure the adequate control and treatment of hazardous waste; (4) promote a suitable set of policies, regulations, and economic instruments; (5) select the best available technologies; and (6) formalize the informal phase of recycling.
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Country Profile

The Argentine Republic extends over the south of the American continent, the islands of the South Atlantic and part of Antarctica. The surface of its continental region is 2,791.810 Km2 and that of Antarctica and the islands of the South Atlantic of about a million Km2 (969.464 Km2).

The country spans in latitude from the Tropic of Capricorn to the South Pole, and in longitude from the highest peaks of America in the Andes to sea level on the Atlantic coasts, which determines a wide variety of climates.

The wetlands in the East of its territory comprise forests and subtropical mountains and the Pampas Plain in which the main agricultural and livestock activities of the country are developed. The arid and semiarid zones occupy two thirds of the surface of Argentina. They have a high variability in their landscape with xenophiles’ forests, areas with deserts, mountain and spinal, in the North and central region. In the South there is the Patagonia, almost all arid and with strong winds.

The population of the country at the end of 2015 was over 43 million inhabitants with a proportion of the urban population of about 91%. The Argentine population has grown in the period 2000-2015 at an average annual rate of 10.7 per thousand. The average density is 15 inhabitants per Km2. The distribution is very uneven and most of the population is concentrated in the largest urban centers.

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