Informal collection, recycling and export of valuable waste as transcendent factor in the municipal solid waste management: A Latin-American reality

The informal collection, storage, and commercialization of Valuable Solid Waste (VSW) performed by waste pickers is a complex and dynamic socioeconomic phenomenon. In developing countries, the waste pickers play a major role as suppliers to companies dedicated to the commercialization of VSW, thus contributing to mitigate the environmental impact of the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) systems. This research work presents the logistic and geographical structure of the informal collection, commercialization, and national and international recycling of VSW recovered from a medium size city in Mexico. The life cycle assessment methodology is used to determine the environmental impact that recycling VSW from informal collection has on the MSWM system. The functional unit is defined as the management of one ton of municipal solid waste. The functional unit displays a climate change index of 1090 kg CO2 eq, while the recycled VSW has the potential to mitigate it by −116.5 kg CO2 eq. The marginalization index is a way to assess the socioeconomic condition of the waste pickers. This index shows that the waste pickers suffer high marginalization, despite the fact that they contribute with 72% of the total collection of VSW.