The municipality of Cordoba, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, has a population of almost 205,000 inhabitants in 89 rural and 6 urban locations. More than 186,000 kg of municipal solid waste is collected daily in the municipality, which is equivalent to an average daily generation per person of 1 kg of municipal solid waste and an annual generation of more than 67,700 tons. To this must be added an unknown volume of waste that is incinerated in private homes or dumped directly into vacant land or bodies of water.
Of the waste collected through the municipal public cleaning system, only a small fraction is recycled or composted, most of the waste being deposited in a sanitary landfill located 32 km from the municipal seat, generating high environmental, social, and economic costs to the municipality of Cordoba and its surroundings. The municipality identifies a need for a comprehensive municipal solid waste management program that outlines strategies for waste reduction in housing and commerce, as well as low-cost and highly adaptable mechanisms that optimize the collection, composting and recovery of such waste.
18 courses from 9 bachelor programs are involved in the design of innovative proposals to inform a municipal integrated waste management and reduction strategy. This project is operated in collaboration with the Municipality of Cordoba and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Mexico.