Bolivia Waste Management and Disposal Providers
For Bolivia waste management and disposal contact details, please see the following links:
4.1 Bolivia Government Contact List
4.9 Bolivia Additional Service Provision Contact List
Waste collection is only one component of a city’s integral urban collecting service. Five services are provided, i) solid waste collection, ii) sweeping and cleaning of streets and avenues, iii) cleaning of roads and public areas (markets, schools), iv) special services (cleaning of rivers, slopes, events, parades, folklore parades, etc., and v) the garbage disposal at the landfill.
Garbage is collected by vehicles that make their rounds in established routes and schedules, equivalent to door to door or corner to corner collection. Containers are used in areas where the garbage generation is low, in fixed points, and are serviced by roll on - roll off vehicles.
Finally, there is the sweeping and cleaning of streets, squares, schools, markets and the cleaning of rivers, since there still are neighbors who live next to low flow rivers and throw away their garbage into the river.
From all large, medium and small municipalities in the country, only 3 municipalities outsource this service: La Paz, El Alto, and Santa Cruz.
In the rest of the country, the service is run by each Municipal Government, which makes the service poor and expensive. In the cases of service outsourcing, the service is run by a private company and controlled by the Municipal Government.
Only what is privatized falls into the category of landfill; the rest of the cities have open dumps, which obviously violate all environmental standards, and contaminate blatantly because geotextile is not used, leachate is not recirculated, directly polluting the underground rivers.
There is no culture on waste recycling and training programs on awareness of waste segregation are low and very few, so this impacts directly on recycling, making the programs ineffective.
Waste Disposal - Non Hazardous
The final activity of the management and waste disposal chain is the final disposal at the landfill, where the truck arrives at the end of its route. The truck is weighed when it enters and leaves the landfill to determine the garbage weight. Payment is made by weight and once downloaded, the garbage is loaded by vehicles (loaders and dump trucks, which do not leave the enclosure) to deposit it in the confinement cells and bury it.
The depth/height of the cells is regulated depending on the phreatic level in the area and the protection of the soil is made with geomembranes, tending and anchoring at the ground level of the excavation. Once the depth/height of the cell is reached, it is closed, and afforestation and other planned activities can be done, which is the final objective.
Waste Disposal - Hazardous
Waste collection from hospitals, industries, slaughterhouses/markets (perishable goods) is made on a differentiated basis with exclusive vehicles. The filling and depositing is made into different cells for differential treatment.
There are environmental regulations requiring companies to fall into 3 categories depending on the waste their processes generate. According to their categorization, companies are asked to develop their manifesto and environmental data sheets.
References:
La Paz
SABENPE S.A. Saneamiento y Servicios Ambientales
Av. Mario Mercado c/ Cipreses Nº 100 – Bajo Llojeta
Phone / Fax: (591 2)2500139
El Alto
TREBOL S.A. Tratamiento de Residuos de Bolivia
Calle 12 Nº 13 – Achumani
Phone / Fax: (591 2)800107707
Santa Cruz
SOLVI Brasil
Rua Bela, 967 10º andar Vela Bista – San Pablo, Brasil
Phone: (55 11)31243500
