This article is based on the analysis of solid waste management in the city of Puno, using survey data on the socioeconomic characteristics and recycling of solid waste; Through the Próbit econometric model, the factors that influence the participation of the recycling of some solid waste material in households in the city of Puno were estimated; Variables such as household income, knowledge of the benefits for recycling, education level, and age have a greater effect on the household's decision to participate or not in the recycling of some solid waste material in the households of the city.
Based on this analysis, some strategic action policies are proposed by the Provincial Municipality of Puno for the proper management of solid waste, such as promoting public awareness campaigns about the benefits of recycling, encouraging the participation of households in the recycling of solid waste, through the delivery of weekly bags for the separation at the source (motivation) in the homes of Puno, which becomes a permanent habit (sustainable over time).
Introduction
The management of solid waste in households at an international level, has become one of the most fundamental environmental problems. According to Enkerlin, HE, in his article on "Environmental Science and Sustainable Development - 1997", the generation of waste per person was approximately 300 to 500 gr / inhab / day; which, today reaches about 600 to 1000 gr / inhab / day. In developed countries, the proportion is two to four times higher than in developing countries; Likewise, other studies maintain that the problem does not lie only in quantity but also in quality, that is, with high organic compositions, and increasing amounts of toxic materials, which lead to increased morbidity in the population.
Similarly, in Peru this problem of solid waste management in households is considered a serious environmental problem for local and national governments; In view of the fact that most of these lack adequate systems for processing management, inadequate practices of the population, and inadequate final disposal of solid waste.
According to the estimates of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics of Puno-Peru (INEI-2004) the city of Puno has about 19,000 households. For its part, the generation of solid waste is 68.4 MT / day; 53% are organic and 47% of waste is inorganic2. The municipality of Puno has five vehicles that are available to collect half of the waste generated in the city.
Generally, household waste is collected in the afternoons through the campaign collection system, these are transferred and disposed of in the place called "Cancharani" located 7 km from the city, this place is provided with some facilities and equipment such as: rainwater drainage ditch, gas exhaust pipe, fence, among others; There is still a lack of equipment for the execution of the sanitary deposit, especially the land cover.
On the other hand, according to the survey on the socioeconomic characteristics and recycling of waste of the 390 households in the city of Puno4, 23% of households participate in the recycling of some solid waste material, and 77% do not recycle nor does it participate in the recycling of any solid waste material. Likewise, it should be noted that only 54% of households know about the benefits of recycling, and 46% of households do not know them.
Based on the problems raised above, it can be indicated that the solid waste management system in the city of Puno is deficient, and requires studies of environmental policies for proper management. The objectives of this study are:
1. Determine the factors that influence the decision to participate in recycling by households in the city of Puno.
2. To propose some strategy policies for the adequate management of solid waste at the minimum cost in the city of Puno.
There are legal antecedents that contemplate the management of solid waste, such as the Political Constitution of Peru of 19935 which establishes that everyone has the right to enjoy a balanced and adequate environment for the development of life; He
Code of the Environment and Natural Resources 19906 establishes in its Art. 16, that it is forbidden to bring waste or waste into the national territory, whatever its origin or material state, which by its nature, use or purposes are dangerous or radioactive; and the General Law on Solid Waste of 20007, a rule aimed at ensuring the management and handling of solid waste in a Sanitary and Environmentally appropriate way, in its Article 10, the Provincial and District Municipalities are responsible for the provision of the solid waste collection and transportation services.
Materials and methodology
To achieve the objectives set out in this study, the survey on waste recycling and the socioeconomic characteristics of the 390 households is used, carried out randomly in different areas of the city of Puno8. Likewise, it is taken into account that the rate for the quantity of solid waste is flat and there is no structured market for recyclable materials such as deposit / refund schemes; thus, household decisions do not depend on economic incentives.
Econometric Model.
The econometric model used for the following study on the analysis of the factors that influence the decision to recycle or not by households is the Probit model; which has been adapted from the study on the generation of recycling in rural households in the United States9; In our case, the dichotomous dependent variable consists of whether the household participates in the recycling of some material (REC = 1) or does not participate (REC = 0). The empirical specification includes variables such as household income, knowledge of the benefits for recycling, age, among others, which can explain the household's decision to participate or not in recycling, the function is planned as follows:
β is a vector of parameters, which reflects the effect that each of the variables (contained in vector x) has on the probability of recycling some material.
On the other hand, for interpretation purposes, the marginal effects of the Probit model are used, which is expressed in the following functional form:
The definition of the variables and descriptive statistics are presented below.
Analysis of results
The results of the present study were estimated using the STATA 9.0 econometric package, under the following econometric function.
According to table No. 2, it can be indicated that the likelihood ratio of the regression is high (-24.12) and statistically significant, which means, the variable participation of the recycling of some material by households in the city of Puno-Peru, can be explained by the variables considered in the regression. On the other hand, the positive (negative) values of the estimated regression coefficients indicate that the variable increases (reduces) the possibility that the household participates in the recycling of some type of material.
The signs coincide with what is expected, of variables such as: income (ing), secondary education (edsec), higher education (edsup), age, sex, and knowledge of the recycling benefits (cbr) of households; all these variables have a positive sign; which indicates, if one of these variables increases, consequently the probability of participating in the recycling of some material will increase on the part of households.
Likewise, it should be noted that the age variable has an inverted U behavior, indicating that when the heads of the family are young (under 28 years of age) they do not have much interest in participating in recycling, because they have little exposure to the problem. This changes when the age of the head of the household increases, it is expected to some extent that people acquire a greater awareness of the benefits of recycling and the costs associated with not recycling, until reaching a maximum point. After this maximum age, the trend turns negative, which means that households do not participate in recycling or do not recycle10. This old behavior is shown below.
Graph 1:
Behavior of age with respect to REC probability.
This means that the age at which the probability of participating in recycling is maximized when the head of household is 50 years old, after this age the trend decreases again. To determine the effect of each of the variables on the probability of participating or not in recycling, the marginal effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable are calculated, as shown below.
Table No. 3:
Marginal Effects of REC.
According to the results of the marginal effects, it can be observed that the probability that the household participates in the recycling of some material (REC = 1) increases by 5% when the head of the household has a higher education level, and by 0.9% when the head of the household has a secondary education level. In relation to the knowledge variable; If the head of the household is aware of the benefits of recycling, then the probability of participating in household recycling increases by 13%.
On the other hand, the age variable indicates that as the age of the head of the household increases, the probability that the household participates in recycling some material increases by 0.04% and after reaching the maximum point this probability decreases by an order of 0.007%. Regarding the gender variable, the fact that the head of the family is a man, the probability of participating in the recycling of some household material increases by 0.017%. Meanwhile, the family size variable has a negative response in recycling, which indicates that if the number of families in the household increases, the probability of participating in the recycling of some material decreases by 0.08%.
Based on the analysis of the results, it can be argued that the policies, programs, plans and / or projects for the management of household solid waste in the city of
Puno should be oriented to the following three strategic lines of action:
- The municipality of Puno, through the Office of Social Projection, must carry out training and / or guidance to households on the benefits of recycling, in order to promote public promotion of participation in the recycling of some material from the household; which should focus on showing the recycling system as a public good that benefits everyone. Likewise, the information it provides should emphasize the role of recycling on the protection of the environment.On the other hand, the Municipality should encourage the participation of households in the separation at the source of solid waste, through the delivery of bags weekly for separation (motivation) in the city of Puno.This is fundamental since it turns out to be a good incentive to motivate family members in the separation of solid waste in homes.Finally, campaigns aimed at raising public awareness should be promoted, seeking the participation of households in the recycling of solid waste, which becomes a daily habit.
Conclusions and recommendations
The results show that 23% of households participate in the recycling of some solid waste material, and 77% do not recycle or participate in the recycling of any solid waste material. On the other hand, only 54% of households know about the benefits of recycling, and 46% of households do not know them.
Through the estimations of the Próbit econometric model, we can conclude that variables such as: knowledge of the benefits of recycling, education level, and household income have a greater influence on the recycling of some solid waste material in the households of the city of Puno.
The Provincial Municipality of Puno, the entity in charge of solid waste management in the city, must conduct training and / or guidance to the population on the benefits of recycling, in order to ensure that the city's households actively participate in recycling of their waste, by separating them at the source in bags on a daily basis.
Bibliographic references
• CONAM (2005) "Compendium of Economic Instruments in Use in Peru"
(Tenders for roads for Public Transport).
• Calcott, Paul and Walls, Margaret (2002). "Waste, Recycling, and Design for Environment".
• Dianne Terry M., (1993). Economic Efficiency Effects of Alternative Policies for Reducing Waste Disposal, Journal of Environmental.
• Domínguez, Carolina (2004), “Determinants of the Separation of Solid Waste from the Source: The Evidence of Bogotá”. Thesis-Pemar.
• Enkerlin, HE (1997), Environmental Science and Sustainable Development. Edit. Internacional, SA Mexico
• INEI. (Dec.2005), "Departmental Statistical Compendium of Puno 2001-2005". Departmental office Puno-Peru.
• Jakus, Paul M.; Tiller, Kelly H.; Park, William M. (1996). Generation of Recyclables by Rural Households. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Pgs 96-108.
• Karen P., Hilary S., and Margaret W. (1996). The Cost of Reducing Municipal Solid Waste.
• Municipality of Puno, (2003-2005). "Operational Plans".
• UNEP (2000) “Environmental Problems in the Latin American region”
• Russell, Clifford S. (2001). Monitoring, enforcement, and the choice of environmental instruments. Regional Environmental Change.
Notes
1 Ing. Economist; M.Sc. in Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources; and in Economics of Investment Projects. Current University Professor at the National University of the Altiplano Puno- Peru. Email: [email protected]
2 Of which, organic waste was identified 55.12% of kitchen waste, 24.32% of paper and cardboard, 4.02% of feces, 16.13% of bones and 2.8% of wood; while in inorganic solid waste they were found as: 28.46% plastic bags, 35.07% PET bottles, 14.37% cans, 9.80% synthetic fabrics, 4.71% rubber and another 7.6% (Municipality of Puno-2005).
3 Municipality of Puno, disposal of solid waste in Puno-Peru. 2005.
4 Survey conducted by a group of students and professors from the Faculty of Economic Engineering of the National University of the Altiplano de Puno -Perú (2005)
5 In Articles 2 (subsection 22), 7 and 66 to 69; Art.2º.- Everyone has the right: 22. To (…) enjoy a balanced and appropriate environment for the development of their life.
6 Through Legislative Decree No. 613, of September 7, 1990 Art. 16.
7 Law No. 27314
8 Survey carried out by a group of students and professors of the Faculty of Economic Engineering of the National University of the Altiplano of Puno -Perú (2005).
9 Jakus, Tiller and Park, “Generation of Recyclables by Rural Households” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Pgs 96-108.
10 Jakus, Tiller and Park, in their article “Generation of Recyclables by Rural Households” indicate that the age variable with respect to the probability of recycling has an inverted U behavior and also shows us an equation to determine the maximum, 1996.
