Household Solid WasteManagement in the Dominican Republic: Case of the Municipality of Puñal, Santiago

Edian F. Franco, Wilfredo Padrón Iglesia and Karina Pérez Teruel
Additional contact information
Edian F. Franco: Research and Innovation Department, Instituto de Innovación en Biotecnología e Industria (IIBI), Santo Domingo 10135, Dominican Republic
Wilfredo Padrón Iglesia: Department of Research and Scientific Dissemination, Universidad Abierta para Adultos (UAPA), Santiago De Los Caballeros 51000, Dominican Republic
Karina Pérez Teruel: Department of Research and Scientific Dissemination, Universidad Abierta para Adultos (UAPA), Santiago De Los Caballeros 51000, Dominican Republic

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: One of the biggest problems that the Dominican Republic has had in recent decades is the efficient management of solid domestic waste. This problem has worsened in recent years due to the decrease in available areas for the construction of sanitary landfills, the lack of recycling culture in the population, the deficiency in waste collection, and the scarce legal controls aimed at preserving water, air and soil among other factors. The objective of this study is to explore the management of solid waste by the population and the municipality of Puñal, province of Santiago, to evaluate and analyze the situation and generation of solid waste, municipal solid waste management services, and the attitudes of the population regarding recycling projects and waste management. A total of 275 households from 29 localities in the municipality of Puñal were surveyed, which allowed for a significant population sample. According to the results, the most significant type of waste produced by families is organic waste, followed by plastic waste and paper. Of the total organic waste produced in the municipality, 53% of solids wastes are handled through the municipal waste collection system, while 47% is used as plant fertilizers or animal feed. On the other hand, most households receive the municipal waste collection service and pay for this service, through which the municipal government collects, processes, and deposits the waste in different landfills. However, a more efficient waste collection system and the development of programs and projects that allow households to manage the solid waste efficiently they produce would be necessary.

Keywords: household solid waste; Dominican Republic; separation at source; organic solid waste; Cibao; North Region; Household Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3149/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3149/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3149-:d:766234

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().