Chapter 2. Collection and recycling, the realm of the informal sector
Photo 1. Selective waste collection in Surco © M. Rateau, ORVA2D, 2015
Bogotá tried to set up selective waste collection using private contractors for residual household waste (RHW) in 2008. The collection routes then covered 37% of users in sixteen of Bogotá’s nineteen urban localities (UAESP, 2015). This collection service was closed down in 2011 following the move to integrate informal actors (cf. Chapter 2.3.).
II.
Primary collection as an alternative to the municipal service
In global South countries, municipal services collect the bulk of waste, not through door-todoor collection but via transfer points. Transfer points are somewhat similar to voluntary dropoff points, although the operating principle is very different. In unplanned neighbourhoods, the residents take their waste to the main roads or, when they can afford it, call on primary collectors who charge them a fee for this service. Primary collection not only improves service quality, but also significantly increases the sorting rate and recovery and recycling rate as the primary collectors sell on the materials with added value. Although primary collection is not legal, it is tolerated in most of the cities since it is the only service capable of removing a substantial fraction of the urban waste. There is also a degree of tolerance for the recovery of recyclable waste by primary collectors. Only Delhi continues to implement a totally repressive policy towards its primary collectors. On the contrary, other cities like Lomé or, to a lesser extent, Antananarivo, are trying to structure this primary collection as an effective complement to the public service.
46 | TECHNICAL REPORTS– No. 54 – OCTOBER 2020
