Innovative experience in LAC:
Public-private partnerships for the management 
of urban solid waste 

Legal, institutional and socio-economic elements
to ensure the efficiency and sustainability of consortiums.

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Approximately 1.5 million people live in the metropolitan area of San Salvador (MASS), where nearly all the country’s industries, businesses and services concentrate. Degradation processes and pollution indexes for this region are very high. In the marginalized areas -where 40% of the MASS population live- there is a lack of sanitation and collection services. As well, it is an area prone to earthquakes, floods and hurricanes.

The municipalities of the metropolitan district of San Salvador elaborated a public-private initiative to meet the demands generated on the territory by the high-density population.  

At present, a mechanism is being used to consolidate the relation between the public and the private sector by means of a new experience: the partnership of 10 municipalities with an international company to establish a mixed enterprise. This implied a total investment of U$S 61 million in a landfill, a composting area, a transfer zone, and public awareness education. The studies conducted indicated that in order to ensure the efficiency and sustainability of the consortiums, it is important to respect the following legal, institutional and socio-economic elements:

Legal: Creation and application of a legal framework providing national legal standards to regulate all activities related to collection and treatment of waste and supply of public services to attract the private sector and bring the civil society to the formal scenario.  

Institutional: Political institutionalization of participatory mechanisms that involve the local government and citizens and their cooperatives, private sector, research centres and, occasionally, Development and Promotion Banks. Socio-economic: A management plan to ensure continuity of consortia by applying feasibility studies, setting tariffs, concession contracts that include responsibility and description of activities for each active member. Coordination of efforts among municipalities and with the sub-national regional level to define the terms that fix a single technical standard base.

The financial resources for the competitive funding programme are fully donated by IDRC.

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