Monterrey Travelling Studio: Stage 3 Submission

Final Report
Mindy McCubbin 161552

From Trash to Treasure: A history of Solid Waste Management in Mexico

both formal and informal and how this relationship can be developed for
the future to empower waste pickers and put Mexico at the forefront of
sustainable development, creating a model that can be replicated
elsewhere.

Abstract

As Mexico undergoes a Municipal Solid Waste restructuring, waste pickers roles

will change within society. They provide a crucial role within the country
through their ability to substitute Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM)
services and also demonstrating reuse and recycling techniques that are
becoming increasingly important.

The aim of this research is to analyse MSWM services and how cooperatives can
assist to retain waste pickers roles within MSWM and also keeping the spirit of
the informal economy alive thus keeping up and preserving an important culture
that already exists.

This will in turn allow us to develop a relationship between various actors in the
community combining the informal and formal economies in a way that
preserves the value systems of the area.

This paper will investigate how universities in association with waste pickers as
well as private business can create a system with mutual benefits with the
ultimate goal to empower the waste picker in the important role that they do as
well as enable Mexico to be the leader in sustainable development and
sustainable solid waste management systems, an example that the rest of the
world can take note of and learn from.

This work will be carried out by examining Mexico City and Monterrey through a
review of current practices, comparisons of other approaches that already exist
and also through qualitative research to understand the fundamental role of
waste pickers in the community from the ground up.

Introduction

The aim is for this research that spans the length of both Monterrey and Mexico
City Solid Waste Management systems, to be utilised to ensure that systems can
be improved in line with future targets and will serve as a guide for others
wishing to complete further study into this field and build upon this research.
There is an opportunity here to improve the structure of Solid Waste
Management in Mexico and potentially around the world by bringing together a
variety of actors from the private, public and NGO spheres to reshape the way

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the majority of the population sees waste by starting with the source and those
who understand it best- the waste pickers.

Mexico’s Solid Waste Management Systems

Solid Waste Management in Mexico is achieved in a variety of different ways. It is
achieved formally through Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) services- that is open-
air dumps, non-controlled landfills, and sanitary landfills and also informally
through waste picker practices. Mexico as a country contributes 1.6% to global
greenhouse emissions making it a middle emitter, which are clustered around
half a gigatonne (Green and Finighan, 2012). To put this in perspective, Australia
is in the middle of this category, alongside countries such as Germany, South
Korea, and Spain whose emissions range from around 1% to 2% of global
emissions.

Challenges for Solid Waste Management in Mexico

Mexico has challenges ahead in terms of its solid waste management. Not only is
public sanitation lacking due to inadequate planning but also current solid waste
management in parts of Mexico is unsustainable (Buenrostro & Bocco 2003).
Therefore the development of adequate disposal of solid waste is crucial to
improve public sanitation systems. However municipalities struggle to
administer sanitary landfills under Mexican legislation due to insufficient public
and private funds, knowledge and personnel skilled to do the job as well as
corruption within public sanitation management systems. Many solid waste
workers in Mexico have no technical training and there are also groups of people
who live at disposal site who make a living by separating and selling solid and
even consume it as part of their diet (Buenrostro & Bocco 2003).

Waste Picking and the Informal Economy

There are various names for a person who searches for and collects discarded
items such as scavenger, ‘Pepenadores’ (dumpsite scavengers), ‘Cartoneros’
(cardboard collectors), ‘Buscabotes’ (aluminium collectors) , ‘Traperos’ (rag
collectors) (Medina, 2000). For the purposes of this review they will be known as
waste pickers. In the context of MSWM, the informal recycling sector refers to
the waste recycling activities of scavengers and waste pickers. These terms are
used to describe those involved in the extraction of recyclable and reusable
materials from mixed waste.

Importance of informal Waste Pickers in Mexico

Whilst their work is branded ‘disorganised’ and ‘informal’ the waste pickers
organisational structure is actually highly complex. They can recover quantities
of materials greater than those obtained in developed countries demonstrating
the importance of including waste pickers in the decision-making process in
regards to handling MSW as they are closest to the source. The activities of these
groups are environmentally significant as their reuse and recycle techniques are
highly specialised. However waste pickers are forced to sell the recovered
materials to others at a low cost and it is others who on sell materials who
benefit from it (Buenrostro & Bocco 2003). There are few legal and practical
frameworks that protect waste pickers thus it is crucial to legislate in order to

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improve provide better conditions and opportunities for waste pickers given
that the work they do is so important.

Mexico’s Unstable Past

Mexico is currently battling with severe issues including political instability, drug
related violence, poverty and global warming and its effects are felt most
severely in informal settlements. In the 1980’s neoliberal politics changed the
fabric of Mexican peasant economies bringing about an ’impoverishment of rural
communities never observed before’ (Rodriguez & Sieglin 2006, pp. 103-104). 
This episode combined with the industrial growth of the 1960’s caused large
scale rural to urban migration with people often ending up in slums.

Urban Governance Issues in Mexico

Lack of tax collection means low salaries for municipal employees, leading to
under qualified employees and poor administrative planning which facilitates
lack of coordination between departments creating a gulf between policy and
practice generating the necessity for informal waste collection (Buenrostro &
Bocco 2003). With the high numbers of workers in the informal economy
“Mexico collects just 12% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in taxes” (Medina
2005, p. 391). “To this day, municipal governments in Latin America do not have
the revenue base to generate the significant funds necessary to resolve local
housing and public service needs” .(Bennett 1995) As a result, “low-income areas
usually receive sporadic service or no [municipal solid waste] collection at all”
(Medina 2005).

Lack of tax
collection

Low salaries for

Informal waste
municipal
collection
employees

Guld between Under qualified

policy and practice employees

Lack of coordination
Poor administrative
between
planning
departments

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Figure 1: The cyclical factors that lead to a lack of implementation of policy
(adapted from Buenrostro & Bocco 2003, p. 258).

Analysis

Formal MSWM Operation in Nuevo Leon

Nuevo Leon could be considered the most economically advanced of Mexico’s 32
states. It has a population of over 4.5 million with 80% living within the
municipal area of Monterrey. Although Monterrey has a population of 1.1
million, the surrounding municipalities such as Apodaca, Escobedo, Guadalupe,
San Nicolas and San Pedro rely on Monterrey for employment, retail and other
services (Let’s Recycle, 2010).

Sustainable Initiatives and Waste Management Facilities

Through sustainable initiatives and assistance from Britain, Nuevo Leon has
contributed 50% of the reductions that Mexico was achieving in 2010 (Let’s
Recycle, 2010). This can be attributed in part to Nuevo Leon working to improve
its waste management facilities. DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs) in the United Kingdom in association with the British Embassy in
Mexico have assisted Nuevo Leon to close local dumps out in rural areas and
replace them with new properly engineered landfills as part of their
International Sustainable Development Dialogue (Let’s Recycle, 2010). As of 19
April 2010, 22 dumps were closed and new sanitary landfills were established
which were constructed and managed under the auspices of SIMEPRODE
(Sistema Integral para el Manejo Ecológico y Procesamiento de Desechos) a state
run and funded waste management company. There are still problems with new
landfills such as some sites still being used for dumping and culprits burning the
evidence but on a whole this initiative has been largely successful. The majority
of residue from the old dumps was sent to the Salinas Victoria Landfill which was
the first waste to energy plant in Latin America (Smith, 2002)

Salinas Victoria Landfill

The site was opened in March 2000 and is the third largest landfill gas
generating facility in the world (Let’s Recycle, 2010). The landfill takes both
Municipal Solid Waste and non-hazardous industrial wastes with 750 trucks
depositing waste a day. Waste is weighed and payment for dumping waste is
made being US$4 per tonne for MSW and US$6 per tonne for industrial waste
which is insufficient to pay for operating costs of the landfill and sorting plant
however lower gate fees reduce the changes of fly tipping (Let’s Recycle, 2010)
which refers to dumping waste illegally instead of in an authorised rubbish
dump. There are numerous other benefits to operating this system of landfill.

Waste-to-Energy Landfill Plants

Three waste-to-energy plants are operating in Nuevo Leon at present (Biller,
2010). Benles, a joint venture between Simeprode (the state run and funded
waste management company) and local (private) firm Seisa, owns the Monterrey
I, II and III waste-to-energy plants. They turn methane produced by
decomposing waste into energy, which is sold to municipal councils at a
discounted rate (Smith, 2002) (see Figure 2). Monterrey I and II provide power

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for public lighting and the Monterrey metro, while Monterrey III will power
public lighting and government buildings (Biller, 2010). Local municipalities and
the metro each have one share due to regulations requiring the plants'
consumers to own a stake (Biller, 2008). Even though there were initially
concerns regarding difficulties predicting the rate at which garbage will
decompose; whereby if trash in a landfill has broken down too much, it will be
depleted of methane before it can be extracted or if an area suffers a drought or
if the landfill doesn't receive sufficient moisture the garbage won't decompose at
a fast enough rate to make the plant effective (Smith, 2002). The success of
Monterrey I, II & III demonstrate that these concerns have been overcome.

Figure 2: The waste to energy process (source:

http://www.sustainablecitiesnet.com/models/brisbane-to-construct-
second-landfill-gas-plant/)

Informal MSWM Operation in Nuevo Leon

SIMEPRODE is aware of the benefits of recyclable components, therefore prior to
collection of waste bound for landfill sites the Waste Pickers’ with their carts,
tricycles and bicycles extracted most of the aluminum cans and the cardboard set
out by households and businesses, with an estimated 3% of the total waste
stream separated by these people, The waste collectors themselves are
estimated to separate a further 7.5% of the reclaimable waste prior to delivery to
SIMEPRODE's facilities and 5.6% is separated out at the plant (Let’s Recycle,
2010).

Wastepickers and Monterrey ‘Favelas’

'Favelas' defined as slums at the edge of a city, in Monterrey, amount to about
100,000 people in total who do not receive a waste collection for several reasons,
such as their illegal occupancy, inadequate and steep tracks through the sites.
For example in the municipality of Nuevo Almaguer, residents are required to
take their rubbish down to the bottom on the street so it can be collected by
municipal waste collectors as the municipality is built on a steep hill.

Initiatives Established by the Municipalities for Waste Pickers

Local authorities of Guadalupe and San Nicolas de los Garza have introduced a
licensing system for the informal waste collectors to ensure the rubbish is
dumped properly and that they pick up after their horses. Municipalities

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acknowledge that the 130,000 metric tonnes of waste the waste pickers collect in
the two local government areas per year saves them a lot of money and this also
works to dignify the waste pickers role. There are an estimated 400 people in the
Monterrey municipality with donkey horse and carts that go round collecting
any recyclables of value and also offer waste collection services to households
trying to get rid of bulky wastes and to retailers attempting to avoid the
municipality's waste charges. In addition there has been the provision of bulk
containers to certain groups of cart operators so that waste can be placed by the
operators into these and then Monterrey bears the cost of the waste disposal
(Let’s Recycle, 2010).

Formal MSWM Operation in Mexico City

Mexico City is the country's largest city as well as its most important political,
cultural, educational and financial center. The Mexico City Metropolitan Area is
divided up into the 16 boroughs (delegaciones) of the Federal District (Mexico
City proper), The 40 municipalities of the State of Mexico & the Metropolitan
Area of the Valley of Mexico. According to the most recent definition agreed upon
by the federal and state governments, the Mexico City metropolitan area
population is 21.2 million people (National Population Council, 2009). The
Greater Mexico City has a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$390 billion in
2008, making Mexico City urban agglomeration the eighth richest metropolitan
area in the world (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009). The city was responsible for
generating 21% of Mexico's Gross Domestic Product and the metropolitan area
accounted for 34% of total national GDP (Mexico City Experience, 2010).

Bordo Poniente Landfill

A 927-acre landfill built on a dry lake bed partly to handle the rubble from the
devastating 1985 earthquake. Since its construction in 1985, it had collected a
total more than 76 million tons of garbage. Bordo Poniente solid waste disposal
facility was closed on December 19, 2011.

The Problems Facing Mexico City

Gabriel Quadri de la Torre, a former federal environmental official who is
running for president under the banner of a minor party, said that with proper
management, the city could have used Bordo Poniente for many more years,
piling new layers on older parts of the dump (Malkin, 2012). Alternate dumps in
surrounding Mexico state refused to take the city's trash causing mounds of
debris to build up at illegal dumping sites around the city, garbage trucks have
had to queue up for more than six hours to dump loads at transfer stations, and
overstuffed bags and other trash have piled up streets. City officials were found
dumping tons of trash at Bordo Poniente adding to the disillusionment. Critics
say the city was unprepared, and it wasn't clear why there wasn't a solid
alternative waste system in place after earlier plans to build four new garbage
processing plants were abandoned (Malkin, 2012). An interim plan to take refuse
to smaller dumps outside the city collapsed almost immediately. Specialists say
the new landfills are an imperfect solution because it is expensive to haul the
trash that far and because they will fill up relatively soon (Malkin, 2012). There
are currently no waste- to-energy plants in Mexico City.

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Informal MSW Management Operation in Mexico City
Waste pickers who worked at the Bordo Poniente site hold power in numbers as
in the old days politicians counted on them as a base of support. They would help
inflate crowds, wave flags for visiting dignitaries or provide pro-government
troops to counter opposition protests (Malkin, 2012). Waste pickers are still able
make politicians take notice. Several times last year they blocked the arrival of
giant trash trailers at the dump to protest the planned shutdown. In response,
when Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of Mexico City turned up to announce a project for a
power plant fueled by methane from the dump, he also had to promise that the
waste pickers could stay. The city agreed not to close the separation plant where
the waste pickers pick through garbage, even though it means the trash must
first be delivered to Bordo Poniente and then reloaded onto trucks to be hauled
to the new dumps hours after the waste pickers have finished extracting what
they can sell. Although keeping the separation plant open at Bordo Poniente
pacifies the waste pickers, it makes little economic sense. The 20-ton trailers that
collect the garbage from neighborhood trucks must now make a detour to the
plant before driving to far-off landfills that the city is paying to take its garbage
(Malkin, 2012). In conclusion, Mexico City although they claim to want to lead
the way in sustainable waste management lack the adequate planning, design
and resources to do so.

Reduction in Rubbish & Livelihood

Since the closing of the Bordo Poniente landfill site waste picking has become
more difficult as there is less garbage “The street sweepers and pickers on the
trucks go through it, and it doesn't get here anymore” (Malkin, 2012). The
neighborhood garbage trucks carry their own waste pickers; three or four
volunteers who dig through household waste who make even less money than
the workers at Bordo Poniente but with fewer illnesses. Héctor Castillo Berthier,
a sociologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, estimates that a
quarter of a million people in Mexico City depend on trash for their livelihood:
street sweepers, garbage collectors, waste pickers, junk dealers and their
families. Malkin, 2012 asserts that according to Castillo “Anything you change is
going to alter that tradition”. ''There are more and more layers of informality.
These are complex processes.'' This is why it is so important to carefully
consider every scenario and the future impact it may have. Mr. Castillo has no
confidence in city officials' plans to reduce and compost garbage. ''They have no
Plan A,'' let alone a Plan B, he said. ''They are going to bet on a reshuffling of the
informal systems (Malkin, 2012).

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Figure 3. A Transfer Station in Mexico City, Mexico

9. From the transfer stations, the

garbage is taken to the separation
8. Money collected in each truck is
plants (by means of a mechanical
1. Household distributed between the driver,
strip, what is recyclable is selected
macheteros and volunteers
and separated, leaving the
unwanted waste behind)

7. Vehicles head for transfer 10. Rejected materials are taken to

2. Sweeper
stations/OR city dumps landfill sites

3. Collection Trucks (receives portion 6. Businesses use recycled materials

of sweeper’s tips) in production

5. Recyclables (Cardboard, glass

4. Truck covers routes (fincas) with
bottles, tortillas, iron, paper, tin,
2-3 volunteers who empty bags and
rags, furniture, glass) (10-15%) are
go through them to collect materials
put into bundles, sacks and bags so
that can be recycled (cardboard,
it can be sold to any of hundreds of
bottles, furniture, hard tortilla, iron,
businesses dealing with industrial
paper, tin, rags, junk).
waste

Figure 4. The Traditional Daily Cycle of Garbage (adapted from Castillo

2003 p. 15-16).

A Waste Pickers Role

Waste pickers are an important asset to SWM systems environmentally, socially
and economically this is because they substitute formal collection in informal
areas and other locations where municipal solid waste management programs
don’t or can’t access (Coad, 2003; Haan et al., 1998; Scheinberg, 2001b). Even
though informal waste pickers are such an important part of the SWM program
in Mexico, they are seen as having the lowest status in society. It has been found
that the urban poor and low-income communities are the main recyclers, re-
users, and source-reducers of their household solid waste (Murad & Siwar,
2007). Thousands of microenterprises across the developing world serve
neighbourhoods that lack municipal waste collection services while providing
income opportunities for entrepreneurial individuals (Medina, 2008).

Earning a Living through Waste Picking?

For the urban poor in developing countries, informal waste recycling is a
common way to earn income (Medina, 2008). The prime economic motivation is
sometimes not the fee that can be charged for providing the service, but rather
the income that can be made from sorting and recycling the collected waste, a

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notable example being the Zabbaleen in Cairo (Neamatalla, 1998) whereby after
the sorting of materials is finished, the Zabbaleen sell the sorted materials, such
as paper, tin, rags, plastic materials, cloth, etc. (Fahmi & Sutton, 2010). Although
waste pickers have a low social status, they actually earn 3.3 times the minimum
wage furthers showing the importance of allowing these people to continue their
work (Medina 2005, p.392) A study in three Mexican cities found nearly 3000
informal refuse collectors collect 353,000 tons of waste a year, earning up to 5
times the minimum wage (Medina, 2008)

Who does it and how it’s done

Informal collectors invest in pushcarts, donkey carts, horse carts and pickup
trucks to transport waste. They usually recover recyclables in the waste before
disposal (Medina 2007, p 147) Buenrostro & Bocco (2003, p. 260) “they are able
to recover and recycle a large quantity of materials… surpass[ing] those obtained
in developed countries.” These activities epitomise the informal sector as this is
labour-intensive, low-technology, low-paid, unrecorded and unregulated work,
often completed by individuals or family groups. (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman,
2006). Informal waste recycling is carried out by poor and marginalised social
groups who resort to scavenging/waste picking for income generation and some
even for everyday survival (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006). This is
widespread throughout urban areas of the developing world and it is reported
that up to 2% of the population in Asian and Latin American cities depend on
waste picking to earn their livelihood (Medina, 2000).

Figure 5. The horse-drawn carts, or carretons, are used by the waste

pickers to transport waste.

Figure 6. The recently formalised settlement of Nuevo Almaguer set upon a

steep hill.

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 Source separation at the household or Collection crews sort recyclables while Informal collectors retrieve recyclables
place generating waste materials on their collection routes prior to the disposal of the refuse they
pick up

Waste pickers retrieve materials at the In vacant lots, where garbage is On the streets or public spaces,
communal storage sites, as well as dumped, as well as in illegal dumps picking up litter
from commercial and residential
containers placed curbside

In canals and rivers that cross urban At composting plants At municipal open dumps
areas carrying materials dumped
upstream

At landfills

Figure 7. The Many Ways of Waste Picking (adapted from Medina, p. 10-
13).

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Figure 8. Example flow chart of an informal recycling system, showing four
types of informal recycling (Wilson et al., 2001).

Environmental Benefits of Waste Picking for Mexico

Recycling has obvious environmental benefits and the involvement of waste
pickers in recycling programs can enhance those. Recycling aluminium for
example requires only 3-5 percent of the energy needed to obtain aluminium
from bauxite. Waste pickers composting activities also divert organic waste away
from dumps and landfills, reducing the generation of methane (Medina, 2008).
Recycling materials saves energy, water and generated less pollution than
obtaining virgin materials (Medina, 2008). Scavenging reduces the amounts of
waste that need to be collected, transported and disposed of, lessening air
pollution from fewer dump trucks and extending the life of dumps and landfills
(Medina, 2008). Recycling is always placed above disposal in the waste
management ‘hierarchy’. Most if not all Western countries allowed their earlier
informal recycling systems to disappear, and have struggled over the last 10
years to re-establish more formal systems to rebuild recycling percentages to
former levels and meet what are now ever-increasing recycling targets (Wilson,
Velis & Cheeseman, 2006).

Economic Benefits of Waste Picking for Mexico

In Mexico, waste paper recovered by waste pickers is seven times cheaper than
imported wood pulp. Mexican paper mills have strengthened their backward
links with waste pickers to lower their costs and survive the competition with
Canadian and U.S. paper makers resulting from NAFTA (Medina, 2005).
Recycling saves municipalities’ money by reducing volumes of waste that needs
to be collected, transported and disposed of (Medina 2008). Informal recycling
systems can contribute significant economic benefits to developing countries.
From a macroeconomic perspective, they are well adapted to the prevailing
conditions, namely abundant supply of working force, but scarce capital: they
minimise capital expenditures and maximise hand (and animal) power (Haan et
al., 1998; Scheinberg, 2001a). They are able to provide a steady, reliable supply
of secondary raw materials for local manufacturing industry which can replace

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more expensive imported raw materials. This also stimulates the manufacture of
low-cost, affordable products made from recycled materials. (Wilson, Velis &
Cheeseman, 2006). The informal waste recycling systems that already exist in
many developing countries reduce the cost of formal waste management
systems as they reduce the quantity of waste for collection, resulting in less
money and time spent on collection and transport. Void space at disposal sites is
preserved and only used for wastes with no potential value as recycled materials
are diverted for reuse. For the most part, these economic benefits are achieved at
no direct cost to the tax-payers (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006).

Social benefits of Waste Picking for Mexico

There are also social benefits associated with informal recycling. It provides
employment and a livelihood for impoverished, marginalised and vulnerable
individuals or social groups (Medina, 2000). Despite the particularly adverse
working conditions associated with informal recyclers, it is important to
recognise that it does allow those involved to survive and be employed in
regions that often have high unemployment (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006).
Many waste pickers may not be able to enter formal sector employment because
of poor education or physical disability. This inability to enter more conventional
occupations and the resulting absence of real choice needs to be recognised by
interventions that attempt to change the role and working practices associated
with informal recycling (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006). If waste pickers do
find alternative employment in the formal sector, other individuals are highly
likely to replace them as long as poverty continues and waste remains accessible
(Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006).

Problems Facing Waste Pickers

Buenrostro & Bocco (2003, p.260) observe that waste pickers of Mexico actually
have highly complex organisational structures and there a unions for waste
pickers that are increasing the “Solid waste collection and transportation
problems that exist in Mexico.”

Monopsosnistic Market
There are also negative forms of the organisation Medina (2007, p. 131-132)
gives the case study of Mexico City where “bosses” control the waste pickers.
Bosses forbid pickers to sell their waste to other people or organisations
“thereby controlling a monopolistic market”. In some cases middlemen often
earn large profits off waste pickers who are paid far too little to escape poverty
(Medina 2008). The low incomes of waste pickers can often be explained by the
low prices paid by middlemen. In some cases middlemen, especially
monopolistic markets grossly exploit scavengers (Medina 2000). A
monopsosnistic market exists where there is only one buyer, as opposed to a
monopoly where there is only one seller. Dumpsite waste picking in particular is
susceptible to the development of monopsosnistic markets due to the relative
isolation of many dumps which makes it nearly impossible for waste pickers to
impart materials to the nearest town (Medina 2000). Another factor that
encourages the formation of monopsosnistic markets is the awarding of
concession for the recovery of recyclables- Mexican cities usually require that
anyone wishing to recover materials from dumps/landfills obtain a concession.

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Concessions legitimise monopsosnistic markets at disposal sites and in some
cases the exploitation of waste pickers(Medina 2000).

The Hierarchy
The typical waste picking hierarchy could be used to explain the leader’s role in
garbage collection and selection: At the top are the manufacturing industries,
(where the goods come from) which flow onto brokers, wholesalers and other
processors. All the benefits it can (and must) provide are then passed down to
the crasftsmen or middlemen where the cacique is located (if there is one). In
some circumstances the middleman receives them, interacts with the authorities
and administers these benefits in a way that enables him to strengthen his
economical and political (real and virtual) power (Castillo, 2003). This is
followed by the waste pickers organised into recycling micro or small
enterprises and cooperatives after which come the family type units involved in
waste collecting, scavenging and picking. Finally at the bottom of the hierarchy is
the group that comprises the majority of the individual waste pickers who are
the most vulnerable and exercise the least power.

Figure 9. Hierarchy of informal sector recycling (Wilson et al., 2001).

Poor living conditions leading to health risks

Poor living conditions, limited access to facilities and infrastructure, no provision
of urban services such as water supply and sewerage and absence of social safety
networks are typical of scavenging communities. This is particularly true for
communities that live in shanty towns on or around dumps (Wilson, Velis &
Cheeseman, 2006).

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Figure 10. Risk causing factors related to solid waste: origin and examples
(Cointreau, undated)

Figure 11. Health effects reported from involvement in informal recycling

(Eerd, 1996)

Importance of Cooperatives
Organising and training informal recyclers into Micro and Small Enterprises
(MSEs) is a very effective way to upgrade their ability to add value to collected
materials (Haan et al., 1998). By circumventing intermediate dealers, their
income can be significantly increased and their activities become more
legitimised and socially acceptable (Wilson et al., 2006). Therefore it is evident
that any work to be done involving waste pickers will require them to be
organised into a cooperative, union or MSE first.

Methodology

Qualitative research was undertaken. Medina (2007, p. 109) gives advantages of

qualitative research as, “by being in direct contact with the social phenomenon
under study, can develop a deeper and fuller understanding of it. Feedback from
Maya Dougherty’s experience in Monterrey’s informal settlements such as
interviews that were carried out were taken into account. Correspondence with
Waste Management Experts in Mexico; Martin Medina and Hector Castillo were

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undertaken. Discussions took place at ITESM with Pedro Pacheco and students
as well as sitting in on a Community Centre meeting to understand government
sponsored organizations.

System

Examples of Sustainable Waste Picking Cooperative Initiatives around the

World; based on the work of Martin Medina.

Waste Pickers Organising Themselves

These are just a small example of the possible benefits that can result from waste
pickers being organised into Cooperatives.

Established with Assistance From:

• Universities
• Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) with financial backing
• Governments

Affiliation with Government can involve:

• Cooperatives receiving concession to operate at a local dump and recover
recyclables (contained in wastes)
• Signing contracts (to collect, transport and dispose of solid waste)
• Being incorporated into city curbside recycling program at a National,
Regional or Local association level.

Environmental Benefits of Waste Picking Cooperatives around the World:

• Conserve natural resources
• Pollution is reduced
• Protect the environment
• Fixed routes are established in which source separated recyclables at
households and schools are purchased
• Green uniforms are worn and green pushcarts or bicycles are used
• Regional marketing associations allowing the accumulation and sale of
recyclables in important volumes which provides higher prices than what
cooperatives would be paid individually
• Municipal Solid Waste Service (collecting mixed wastes and source-
separated recyclables)
• Members offered as temporary workers that can be hired by public or
private organisations to perform various activities
• Receiving donations of recyclable materials such as paper and scrap
metals from border assembly plants (‘maquiladoras’).
• Cleaning services also provided to ‘maquiladoras’ for a fee
• Buying materials from independent scavengers in order to satisfy the
demand
• Preparing educational kit for scavengers and NGOs to help in the creation
of cooperatives
• Publishing a monthly newsletter & managing a databank on SWM as well
as scrap broker hotline that answers questions about recycling

Mindy McCubbin Page 15 of 33 24/12/12

 • Composting operations and biogas recovery from market and
slaughterhouse
• Operating Materials Recovery Facilities
• Employs ‘multiplicadores’ (former scavengers) who provide assistance to
any group interested in creating a cooperative

Social Benefits of Waste Picking Cooperatives around the World:

• Spurs grassroots investment by poor people
• Creates jobs
• Reduces poverty
• Supported by major manufacturers
• Ends exploitation and discrimination
• Working as part of a cooperative and wearing a uniform boosts waste
pickers self-esteem
• In a recent survey in six Latin American countries more than 90 per cent
of waste pickers reported that they liked what they did and considered it
decent work (Medina 2008)
• Forming scavenger/waste picker cooperatives and associations can also
enhance their position whereby they can then negotiate as a discrete
entity with the local authorities and/or the private sector and this
legitimises their activities and increases income by circumventing
middlemen (Medina, 2000)
• Improves working & living conditions of scavengers
• Creates standard of living
• Improves waste pickers self-esteem and self-reliance

Economic Benefits of Waste Picking Cooperatives around the World:

• Saves municipalities money
• Raw material costs for industry are lowered (while improving
competitiveness (Medina, 2000)
• Takes advantage of the creativity and entrepreneurial abilities of
individuals who are familiar with their communities, with the
surrounding environment and the opportunities it offers to them
(Medina, 2000)
• Promotes investment in locally made collection vehicles and equipment.
• Indigenous equipment used by community entrepreneurs tends to be
appropriate to the conditions in which it operated
• Local equipment does not require foreign currency to be acquired as well
as to obtain spare parts
• Repairs of local equipment also tend to be cheaper and available in the
city

Additional Benefits for Waste Pickers

• Makes available low interest and collateral free loans from government
departments and banks
• Makes available grants and loans for specific coop projects
• Provides coops with legal, administrative and business assistance
• Free consulting services

Mindy McCubbin Page 16 of 33 24/12/12

 • Provides scholarships for studies
• Provides life and accident insurance
• Sponsors training courses and formal education programs
• Provide access to health care, insurance and legal protection

Model Cooperative Case Studies

In Madras India
A waste collection program was created by and NGO and established in low-
income neighborhoods with the aim of the program being to formalise
scavenging activities. Waste pickers were integrated as waste collectors, or
‘street beautifiers’. Communities obtained loans to purchase tricycle carts to be
used as refuse collection vehicles by the street beautifiers. The way in which it
works is that prior to disposal, the street beautifiers recover the recyclables
contained in the collected wastes and residents pay US $0.30 per month for
having their refuse collected. Pick-up fees are used to pay back the loans and to
pay the street beautifiers’ salaries.

In Indonesia
Indonesia has passed national legislation in support of scavengers. In 1992, the
then President Suharto acknowledged that scavengers were beneficial to the
country’s economy and environment and the central government supports the
formation of cooperatives of dumpsite and street scavengers. In a win for waste
pickers, private banks have: granted loans to scavenger cooperatives, and the
national government has imposed a duty on imported waste materials, in an
effort to increase scavengers’ income. Indonesia'’ Kampung Improvement
Program (KIP) is a fitting model for the provision of MSWM services though the
formation of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Under KIP, communities are
accountable for collecting its own waste and bringing it to transfer stations,
where the local government picks it up and transports it to the final disposal
sites. KIP generates income opportunities for informal refuse collectors,
formalizes and dignifies this activity. By giving responsibility for waste collection
to the communities, it minimizes the public investment needed to provide the
service. It can also act to lower collection costs, because collectors tend to use
affordable vehicles that are appropriate to the local conditions, and that do not
require costly repairs or imported spare parts. The Indonesian government also
encourages the formation of scavenger cooperatives, and private banks make
loans to the coops.

In Mexico
There are other excellent examples from around the world but this one is
pertinent to Monterrey. SOCOSEMA (Sociedad de Seleccionadores de Materiales)
operating in Juarez Mexico, started with the help of a college professor,
supported financially by a local businessman and a sympathetic Mayor. Local
authorities awarded a concession to the cooperative for the salvage of
recyclables contained in the wastes arriving at the dump. Until 1975, before the
cooperative was created, a middleman had a concession to retrieve the
recyclables at the dump. The middleman, functioning in monopsonistic markets,

Mindy McCubbin Page 17 of 33 24/12/12

paid low prices for the materials recovered by scavengers, and commanded
which materials he would buy and as a result, scavengers had very low incomes.
In 1975, the middleman proclaimed that he would buy only paper from then on,
and at a lower price which caused an outcry from scavengers. Scavenger
members recover 150 tons of paper, cardboard, glass, rubber, plastics, animal
bones, organic material, and metals per day, nearly 5% of the wastes arriving at
the municipal dump, a momentous proportion of waste. Industrial need for
recyclables in Mexico is high and the cooperative often buys materials from
independent scavengers in order to satisfy the demand. The cooperative also
obtained donations of recyclable materials, largely paper and scrap metal, from
the border assembly plants popularly known as ‘maquiladoras’. SOCOSEMA
members offer cleaning services to these plants as well for a fee. The impact of
the creation of SOCOSEMA was noteworthy, within a few months after its
creation, and the displacement of the middleman, the incomes of scavenger
members increased tenfold. Cooperative members now receive higher incomes,
participate in training courses and formal education programs sponsored by the
cooperative, and have access to health care and to legal protection. Although
there was initial resistance to do business with the cooperative, SOCOSEMA has
developed good relations with industry.

Cross-Border Recycling
There have been important studies undertaken into the value of recycling on the
US-Mexico border whereby In the US, the supply of recyclables usually exceeds
domestic demand, while it is the opposite in Mexico (Medina, 2012). “The
availability of high-quality reusable and recyclable materials in the US as well as
Mexican demand have also resulted in a complex system of informal crossborder
recovery involving scavengers and businesses”. Thus crossborder recycling
activities should be further encouraged in Mexico.

Guidelines for Creating Sustainable Cooperatives

It is believed the Sustainable Cooperative Model could be replicated anywhere
throughout the developing world provided that an integrated waste
management approach as SWM policy as well as the following guidelines are
followed. Medina, 2000 explains public policy towards waste pickers can be
classified by: Repression, the dominant view of scavenging as inhuman or
backwards; Neglect whereby scavengers are ignored; collusion in the sense that
governments develop relationships of exploitation and mutual profit and mutual
assistance such as in in Mexico city and finally stimulation which is the most
positive approach in which economic, social and environmental benefits of
scavenging and recycling are recognized. Attitudes of indifference and
intolerance need to change to active support.

Mindy McCubbin Page 18 of 33 24/12/12

 NGO’s

Policy Timing

Role of
State

Figure 12. Key factors that can play an important role in the creation of
sustainable cooperatives (adapted from Medina, p. 10-13)

Policy
In many countries, public policies towards the informal sector are largely
negative (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006). Policies that support waste picking
are needed. Support policies range from legalisation of waste picking activities,
encouraging the formation of waste picker cooperatives, the awarding of
contracts for collection of mixed wastes and/ or recyclables to the formation of
public-private partnerships (Medina, 2000).

NGO’s
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organisations
(CBOs) sometimes with external support from international donor agencies,
rather than by the public authorities (Wilson, Velis & Cheeseman, 2006) play a
crucial role assisting in the formation and operation of scavenger cooperatives.
Their motivation, innovation and knowledge with the local conditions allow
NGOs to develop initiatives that have a good chance of succeeding. They can help
cooperatives obtain loans and grants, or furnish the credit themselves. NGOs also
provide necessary technical, business and legal assistance to the cooperatives
(Medina, 2000).

Timing
The timing in which a cooperative is formed can also assist in its success.
Changes of administration can create a window of opportunity, particularly at
the local level. A new Mayor, particularly a member of a different political party
than his/her predecessor, may be more inclined to support a recently formed
scavenger cooperative in order to demonstrate his/her commitment with the
poor and in favor of change which can work to an establishing cooperatives
advantage. Such an action could enhance the Mayor’s image, while scoring
political points (Medina, 2000). A mass media campaign undertaken by the

Mindy McCubbin Page 19 of 33 24/12/12

involved NGO, which shows the waste pickers battles such as their difficult
working and living conditions, as well as the multiple the community receives
from their work has the potential to increase public support for the waste
pickers and their efforts to organize. A grassroots activist information campaign
can also be carried out among community leaders, schools, and neighborhood
associations which has been successful in several Colombian cities (Medina,
2000).

Role of State
The privatization of MSWM services presents both threats and prospects for
scavengers. Companies awarding contracts to collect and dispose of MSW usually
ban waste picking activities in the dumps/landfills they operate. Thus, as
sanitary landfills replace open dumps, waste pickers are forced to resort to other
means such as collect materials on the streets instead which has a negative
impact on the earnings and standard of living of waste pickers (Medina, 2000).
Therefore the incorporation of waste pickers into formal MSWM programs and
the awarding of contracts to waste picker cooperatives can save cities money
while providing them with a steady income (Medina, 2000).

The Need for an Integrated Waste Management Policy

Along with the creation of a Sustainable Cooperative Model, there also needs to
be sufficient SWM policy. It is numbered in order of priority with the most
important focus being at the top. Due to increased volumes of waste, policies
need to be created and administered. The Integrated Waste Management Policy
approach developed by Medina in 1999 is still highly relevant today and consists
of a ‘hierarchical and coordinated set of actions that reduces pollution, seeks to
maximize recovery of reusable and recyclable materials, and protects human
health and the environment (Medina, 1999). This is summarised below in Figure
13. It should always be adapted to the local conditions. It is numbered in order
of priority with the most important focus being at the top.

1. Waste Prevention

2. Reuse

3. Recycling

4. “Materials Recovery Facilities”

(MRFs)

5. Scavengers

6. Composting

7. Incineration

8. Sanitary
landfilling

Figure 13. Integrated Waste Management Policy (adapted from Medina 1999, p.
17-27)

Mindy McCubbin Page 20 of 33 24/12/12

Steps Involved in Improving the Collection and Disposal of MSW
On a more global scale these steps can be followed when first deciding how the
collection and disposal of MSW can be improved (see Figure 14).
•Find out what informal activities around waste already exist e.g.-
•the number and importance of informal refuse collectors and
scavengers
•A study employing a joint qualitative / quantitative methodology
should be used.
•Identify and analyze the existing patterns in informal refuse
collection and scavenging-
•Observation and participant observation of these activities is
Step
1 important.
•Undertake in-depth interviews among scavengers, middlemen and
industry executives
•This would then reveal the linkages between these informal
activities and the formal sector
•Quantitative part of the study would produce statistically
significant data by means of a survey using a random sampling
method.

•Analyse how informal refuse collection and scavenging could be

improved-
•set minimum standards of service and incentives for achieving
those standards.
•E.g. some informal refuse collectors simply dump the wastes they
collected at their earliest convenience, in vacant areas or by the
side of the road.
Step
2
•Informal refuse collectors would continue operating in the areas
where they already work
•Their activities would be monitored by the communities, the
authorities or by NGOs.
•In areas that lack both informal and municipal refuse collection,-
•Small loans could be made to individual entrepreneurs or to
groups of informal collectors organized as cooperatives to
purchase locally made collection vehicles.

•The third step in the process is the promotion and support of

grassroots development efforts involving informal refuse collectors
and scavengers.
•Each community would be responsible for collecting its own
wastes.
•Informal refuse collectors would continue operating in the areas
where they already work
•their activities would be monitored by the communities, the
authorities or by NGOs.
Step
3 •Another possibility is the formation of public-private partnerships
between authorities and informal refuse collectors / scavengers
e.g.-
• collectors pick up the wastes and take them to a transfer station
•from which the municipality takes over for final disposal (see
Figure 2. steps 1-8 of Analysis Section-The Traditional Daily Cycle
of Garbage)
•Waste Pickers could be involved in the process picking up the
wastes and take them to a transfer station where from here the
municipality can take over.

Figure 14. Improving the Collection and Disposal of MSW (Adapted from
Medina 1999, p. 28-29)

Mindy McCubbin Page 21 of 33 24/12/12

Problem to Solve

Over the past forty years Mexico has seen a difference in the make-up and
production of MSW. This is due to a change in consumption patterns due to the
urbanisation process. The disparity in income distribution has caused more
waste pickers to work in municipal dumps. Therefore it is necessary to
modernise the SWM in Mexico by implementing programs that reuse or recycle
as well as up-to-date policies linking the formal (municipal services) to the
informal (waste picker services) and creating groups that protect vulnerable
waste pickers.

Model
Sustainable Cooperative Model
The structure of the model will remain the same globally a more specific
coperative model based on a visit Monterrey Mexico has been devised to meet
the specific needs of the work that Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) undertakes. See Figure 15 below.
In partnership between the Monterrey
Municipality, Community Centre and ITESM

Waste pickers are formed into a cooperative-

providing uniforms, higher wage and more
equitable working conditions

Waste pickers collect waste and give to University-

for free- which can then be used for building
enterprises that the University runs such as ‘Ten
Houses for Ten Families’ and other similar projects

In turn the University can provide education &

training for the waste pickers such as how to use
materials or create new materials out of waste
products

Waste pickers can also collect waste and give to

other business entities (at a cost)

Later, waste pickers can also offer other services

for a fee, such as the collection of mixed wastes
and/or recyclables, street sweeping, composting
operations, and materials recovery facilities.

At the Community Centre level, waste pickers they

can then teach others about building and recycling
thus creating more programs and additional
income for waste pickers within the coop.

As the coop grows further benefits can be added.

Relationships can also be established with

industry/business, cross-border recycling and
rubbish tips to source additional materials

Figure 15. Sustainable Cooperative Model

Mindy McCubbin Page 22 of 33 24/12/12

An example of a company that aims to eliminate the idea of waste by creating
collection and solution systems for anything that today must be sent to a landfill
is www.terracycle.com. Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky when he was a 20-year-
old Princeton University freshman, Terracycle creates national recycling systems
for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. They then convert the
collected waste into a wide variety of products and materials available on-line
and at major retailers ranging from Walmart to Whole Foods Market (Szaky,
undated).

Therefore it is evident there are plenty of ways in which waste pickers can
obtain materials and create programs with the right help from public-private
partnerships and NGO’s. All that is required are the right foundations and an
understanding of how SWM systems work specific to where the cooperative is to
be created.

Monitoring and Review

Each of these models requires ongoing monitoring and review as outlined below.

It is important that the

model allows for
flexibility and considers
participants, what needs
to be provided, why, by
when and what
resources are needed.
Progress will be
monitored and
milestones will be
From here goals can be
established to provide
prioritised and a realistic
motivation for achieving
framework of achieving
goals. Results should be
them can be set.
evaluated in an ongoing
manner for continual
improvement.

It is important to
A staging plan can be
consider alternatives and
used which details the
have back up plans in
timeframe of processes
case initiatives don’t
involved with the model
work out as expected.
will occur. This will also
One or two alternate
provide consideration for
plans are useful to show
the project so the plan
that different options
has longevity
have been considered.

Communicating with
It is imperative to keep stakeholders will allow
the process dynamic and them to feel as though
ongoing to ensure the they are in the loop and
model lives up to what it will also provide for
set out to achieve by feedback to be received
creating a vision and so the model can be
setting goals. continually updated and
improved upon.
By keeping people
informed it will
contribute motivation to
stay on track and also
make it crucial to deliver
on promises.

Figure 16. Monitoring and Review process (Adapted from Holterhoff,

2012).

Mindy McCubbin Page 23 of 33 24/12/12

Discussion

Mexico’s SWM systems are currently undergoing a massive overhaul. Nuevo

Leon appears to be more advanced than Mexico City with three waste-to-energy
plants having been constructed. This type of plant is successful in Mexico due
waste pickers working in more than ten different ways, from source separation
at the household or place generating waste materials to landfills and this
contributes to the high percentage of organic waste that is left as a result of
waste pickers separating all the valuables and non-organic waste.

Mexico City can learn from Nuevo Leon’s current MSWM system which appears
to be on the right track with assistance from DEFRA in the UK. In Mexico City it
appears waste pickers have strength in numbers demonstrated in how they were
allowed to stay on at the separation plant at Bordo Poniente even though it made
little economic sense.

Even with these initiatives to keep waste pickers a part of formal SWM systems
for the future, it must be made aware that unless sustainable state policy is
enacted and waste pickers are organised into cooperatives, waste pickers may
still be vulnerable members of the community and subject to mistreatment.

Cooperatives work by providing a support base for waste pickers, one that is
desperately required. From here waste pickers have the opportunity to achieve
greater environmental, social and economic benefits that they would as an
individual or family group. Unions can be a good way to organise waste pickers
as well provided the relationship is one of stimulation and not repression,
neglect or collusion.

The model put forth demonstrates that creating sustainable cooperatives

requires a combination of policy, NGO’s, timing and balancing the role of the
state along with implementing the Integrated Waste Management Policy. A
Sustainable Cooperative Model can then be introduced to suit the needs of the
entities establishing it and the local conditions. This is followed up with
continuous monitoring and review to ensure that if the model has the potential
to be improved it will.

There is evidence of this type of model working successfully throughout the

world and the case studies listed serve as a guide to how these types of
organisations can be established.

Therefore by understanding the different stakeholders, implementing policy for

an Integrated Waste Management Policy, developing a Sustainable Cooperatives
Model by tailoring it to suit specific needs and continual monitoring and review,
an improved SWM system can be established for Mexico and around the world.

Mindy McCubbin Page 24 of 33 24/12/12

Conclusion

There are many opportunities for further research to stem from this report.
Maya Dougherty in her final report entitled ‘Using waste materials for housing
construction- Investigation of the potential for a relationship between informal
municipal solid waste collectors and the urban poor in Monterrey, Mexico, to
improve housing supply’ lists a range of topics relevant to future sustainable
development such as empowering waste pickers by enabling them to create
housing out of recycled materials. Further studies into Martin Medina’s Cross-
Border recycling investigation efforts could be undertaken and then integrated
into the model to establish where more sources of waste materials can come
from. Appendix 1 created by Pedro Pacheco also provides a map and details of
where of where ITESM collects their recycled materials for their community
building program ‘Impulso Urbano’ in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey,
Nuevo Leon.

It is hoped that the information compiled in this report can provide an overview
of waste expert’s suggestions on how the future of SWM should be delivered for
Mexico. Then whilst Mexico is currently facing social/political challenges, Mexico
can lead the way in its SWM, sustainable cooperatives and property and
construction sectors. This can potentially lead to future flow-on effects such as
positive media coverage, increased tourism and improvements in environmental,
social and economic sustainability for the country.

Mexico is a place of beauty and wonder. Somewhere that one’s trash can become
the greatest of treasures. Although Mexico has grappled with many issues
throughout history, Nuevo Leon is paving the way for the future with its SWM
systems. Mexico City is not far behind and there are opportunities to utilise the
policies and models suggested in this report, with the aim to empower waste
pickers and put Mexico at the forefront of sustainable development.

Mindy McCubbin Page 25 of 33 24/12/12

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Worldbank 2001 Mexico: World Bank-Global Environment Facility Project Will

Convert Greenhouse Gas To Electricity In Monterrey [Online]. Available:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/PROJECTS/0,,contentMDK:200
14527~menuPK:64282137~pagePK:41367~piPK:279616~theSitePK:40941,00.
html [2012, April 26]

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APPENDIX 1

PEDRO PACHECO’S MAP OF MATERIALS USED BY ‘IMPULSO URBANO’ IN THE

METROPOLITAN AREA OF MONTERREY, N.L., MX.

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APPENDIX 2

MAX OZIDACZ’S WASTE TO CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM FOR AN INFORMAL OR

RECENTLY FORMALISED SETTLEMENT AREA (WHICH COULD BE USED IN
CONJUCTION WITH THE SUSTAINABLE CO-OPERATIVES MODEL- SEE FIGURE
15)

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APPENDIX 3

EXAMPLES OF HOUSING IN INFORMAL/RECENTLY FORMALISED

SETTLEMENTS IN MEXICO

ROSENDA’S HOUSE- A 60M2 DWELLING UNIT BUILT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

OF NUEVO ALMAGUER USING RECYCLED MATERIALS, WHICH IN ITS FINAL
STAGE COLLECTS RAIN WATER AND RE-USED GREY WATER. THE HOUSE WAS
DESIGNED AND BUILT IN COLLABORATION WITH MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY,
VOLUNTEERS, STUDENTS, AND FACULTY MEMBERS FROM THE SCHOOL OF
ARCHITECTURE, ART AND DESIGN AND THE CENTER FOR DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION AT ITESM CAMPUS MONTERREY AS PART OF TEN HOUSES
FOR TEN FAMILIES, A SERVICE-LERNING PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS ALL
PARTICIPANTS BECOME AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL FOR INDIVIDUAL AND
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (SOURCE:
HTTP://OPENARCHITECTURENETWORK.ORG/PROJECTS/DLYGAD2_ROSENDA
HOUSE)

HOUSES IN EL RANCHITO MADE FROM WASTE MATERIALS.

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Gracias!

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