Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions

CASE STUDY

K’ara K’ara dumpsite – engaging the private and informal sector in waste management

The K’ara K’ara dumpsite is located in Cochabamba, Bolivia and is about 25 ha in size. The total amount of waste in this landfill is estimated to be between 2.8 and 4 million tonnes; the Ministry of Environment and Water (2010) considers it to be a controlled disposal site. K’ara K’ara’s operations have been subject to health-related discussions because of its proximity (about 200m) to a nearby settlement. About 5,000 people have settled around the site since operations started in 1987 and Cochabamba city’s population of approximately 670,000 livewithin 10 kmof the dumpsite (National Statistics Institute, Bolivia, n.d.). Cochabamba is one of the biggest cities in Bolivia and generates about 500 tons of domestic waste a day, of which 61 per cent is organic and 18 per cent is recyclable (Rodic, 2015a). Problems and solutions The K’ara K’ara dumpsite has had a sizeable impact on the local population and surrounding environment. The site has caused significant environmental damage in the area, particularly to water quality. The population has been unable to use the local groundwater following tests in 1999 which showed that it was highly polluted (Bustamante and Médieu, 2012).

years ago, a national private company was contracted to take over operations and to develop plans to close the site. These measures have improved the situation. Until recently, Bolivia did not separate the different types of waste at source. However, in 2015 a Waste Management Law was approved – as part of the National Programme of Solid Waste Management – which enforces source separation, recycling and resource recovery activities, and separates collection for different types of waste, including special and hazardous waste. Currently, 91 per cent of Bolivia’s landfilling is open air dumping without any form of control, fencing, leachate drainage or gas control. The remaining 9 per cent consists of controlleddumping and sanitary landfilling (BreAd B.V. and MetaSus, 2015). In recent years, the national, departmental and municipal governments have made efforts to undertake formal recycling, but the collection of recyclable waste is mainly carried out by the informal sector, which consists of waste pickers who often have no other means of securing an income. Approximately 175 tonnes are collected by waste pickers every day across the country (De la Parra Leibson, 2012), providing a significant contribution to the country’s economy and waste management. This has been recognized in the recent Law of Waste.

The environmental damage is a result of a poor operations over many years by the municipal enterprise. However, a few

Cochabamba City as viewed from the controlled dumpsite K’ara K’ara. Photo © SWM Department, Ministry of Environment and Water, Bolivia

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