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The K’ara K’ara dumpsite is located in Cochabamba, Bolivia and is about
25 ha in size. The total amount of waste in this landfill is estimated
to be between 2.8 and 4 million tonnes; the Ministry of Environment
and Water (2010) considers it to be a controlled disposal site. K’ara
K’ara’s operations have been subject to health-related discussions
because of its proximity (about 200m) to a nearby settlement. About
5,000 people have settled around the site since operations started in
1987 and Cochabamba city’s population of approximately 670,000
livewithin 10 kmof the dumpsite (National Statistics Institute, Bolivia,
n.d.). Cochabamba is one of the biggest cities in Bolivia and
generates about 500 tons of domestic waste a day, of which 61
per cent is organic and 18 per cent is recyclable (Rodic, 2015a).
Problems and solutions
The K’ara K’ara dumpsite has had a sizeable impact on the local
population and surrounding environment. The site has caused
significant environmental damage in the area, particularly to
water quality. The population has been unable to use the local
groundwater following tests in 1999 which showed that it was
highly polluted (Bustamante and Médieu, 2012).
The environmental damage is a result of a poor operations
over many years by the municipal enterprise. However, a few
years ago, a national private company was contracted to take
over operations and to develop plans to close the site. These
measures have improved the situation. Until recently, Bolivia
did not separate the different types of waste at source. However,
in 2015 a Waste Management Law was approved – as part of
the National Programme of Solid Waste Management – which
enforces source separation, recycling and resource recovery
activities, and separates collection for different types of waste,
including special and hazardous waste. Currently, 91 per cent
of Bolivia’s landfilling is open air dumping without any form of
control, fencing, leachate drainage or gas control. The remaining
9 per cent consists of controlleddumping and sanitary landfilling
(BreAd B.V. and MetaSus, 2015).
In recent years, the national, departmental and municipal
governments have made efforts to undertake formal recycling,
but the collection of recyclable waste is mainly carried out by
the informal sector, which consists of waste pickers who often
have no other means of securing an income. Approximately
175 tonnes are collected by waste pickers every day across
the country (De la Parra Leibson, 2012), providing a significant
contribution to the country’s economy and waste management.
This has been recognized in the recent Law of Waste.
CASE STUDY
K’ara K’ara dumpsite – engaging the private and informal sector in
waste management
Cochabamba City as viewed from the controlled dumpsite K’ara K’ara.
Photo
©
SWM Department, Ministry of Environment and Water, Bolivia