Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste Recovery Operations in Collection Centers

The recovery and salvage of municipal solid waste constitutes one of the most challenging problems faced by cities. The recovery and salvage logistics call for the participation of public and private agents, who in turn, undertake to solve the problem, largely due to the financial gain it procures them. Although processes involved such as classification, separation, and transportation have been thoroughly studied, they have not been comprehensively reviewed. It is thereby necessary to investigate the interaction of relevant components for the recovery and salvage of waste and provide evidence of their operation. This article offers empirical evidence as to the operation of collection centers, the logistical operations they carry out, and the waste they collect. This triad evidence is a stepping stone to glean a deeper understanding of the complexity of the recovery and salvage of municipal solid waste. In contrast to studies focused directly on optimization problems, a first level of analysis is provided on waste recovery leaving open room for the optimization framework to be placed. The results allow waste recovery frameworks to be set beyond waste management. This study is expected to be a starting point others that consider other relevant components of waste recovery.