Resumen

VASQUEZ, Óscar C.. Municipal solid waste management in the Gran Santiago of Chile: challenges and opportunities. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2011, vol.27, n.4, pp.347-355. ISSN 0188-4999.

Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) defines important challenges in the Gran Santiago city of Chile (GS). In 2010, the creation of the Ministry of Environment, the resolution and implementation of "Plan for Solid Waste Management in Metropolitan Region" and the revival of the Metropolitan Enterprise of Disposal and Processing Waste, Limited (in spanish, EMERES), open new opportunities to address them. This paper describes and analyzes the current system, in order to provide relevant information for the decision makers involved. The result shows that the MSWM system in GS has a good level in its operation, as it is evidenced by its system of collection and disposal, although still exist institutional, political, legal, managerial, economic, and educational deficiencies. In this new scenario, some actions to take to address them are recommended, emphasizing the need to complement the legal framework with a clear definition of responsibilities and interrelationships of the entities involved, the study of the ownership of the waste, the establishment of agreed concepts associated to per capita generation and composition of waste to obtain representative studies, the development of instruments and projects focused on minimizing, the study and correction of the apparent inefficiencies in the markets of collection and final disposition waste, and to generate environmental education programs.

Palabras llave : municipal solid waste management; public policy; gran Santiago of Chile.