Waste Valorisation: Between the Private Interest and the Social Benefit

Luisa Fernanda Tovar Cortés ()

No 19567, Documentos Doctorado en Ciencias Económicas from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID

Abstract: Bogota is a referent in social inclusion of waste pickers. In 2016, waste pickers organizations became part of the cleaning public service as providers, and they start receiving a payment. Even though the amount of collected and valorised waste has increased, the waste buried in Dona Juana’s landfill continues to grow. The paper problematizes waste valorisation in Bogota through the waste/value dialectic (Gidwani, 2012; Gidwani & Maringanti, 2016) (Gidwani, 2012; Gidwani & Maringanti, 2016). A social waste valorisation approach has been included to rethink the concept of waste beyond a resource to be reinserted into the market and rather consider it as a booster for building community networks. The methodology is based on a literature review and qualitative and quantitative research strategy involving the analysis of the official information, interviews with waste pickers, visits and field observations in Bogota accomplished since 2015. The analytical framework is developed to understand and discuss the value of waste as essential to define its management, to identify who benefits, and to support processes of a social transformation through the waste. *** Bogotá es un referente en inclusión social de recicladores. En 2016, las organizaciones de recicladores se convirtieron en prestadores del servicio público de aseo y su labor es reconocida mediante una tarifa. Aunque la cantidad de residuos recogidos y aprovechados ha aumentado, los residuos enterrados en el relleno de Dona Juana también siguen creciendo. El artículo problematiza el aprovechamiento de los residuos en Bogotá a través de la dialéctica residuos / valor. Se introduce un enfoque de valorización social para repensar el concepto de los residuos más allá de un recurso que se reintegra en el mercado y más bien considerarlo como un impulsor para la construcción de redes comunitarias. La metodología se basa en una revisión de la literatura y una estrategia de investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa que involucra el análisis de la información oficial, entrevistas con recicladores, visitas y observaciones de campo en Bogotá realizadas desde 2015. El marco analítico desarrollado busca comprender y discutir el valor de los residuos como elemento esencial para definir su gestión, identificar quiénes se benefician y apoyar procesos de transformación social a través de su gestión.

Keywords: waste management; valorisation; social inclusion; waste pickers; Bogota (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 B59 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27
Date: 2021-09-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-hme and nep-isf
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