Resumo

PINEDA PABLOS, Nicolás  e  LOERA BURNES, Edmundo. Bien recolectada pero mal tratada: El manejo municipal de la basura en Ciudad Obregón, Hermosillo y Nogales, Sonora. Estud. soc [online]. 2007, vol.15, n.30, pp.168-193. ISSN 0188-4557.

This paper approaches the way local governments manage garbage from the point of view of the model "Integral Solid Waste Management". The paper, first, reviews the concept and the types of garbage, as well as the characteristics of integral garbage management and some ideas about the scavengers' role; second, it presents the processes of garbage recollection and treatment, as well as the activities of recycling and scavenging in the cities of Obregón, Hermosillo, and Nogales in the state of Sonora (Mexico). The study shows that, in these cities, the service is concentrated on the recollection and disregards reduction and recycling. Out of the three cities, only Hermosillo has undertaken partial activities of recycling and reduction. Regarding treatment, only Hermosillo has a landfill in function, while Nogales manages the landfill as a trash dumping place and Obregón entirely lacks an adequate site for garbage confinement. Last, the article revises the situation of scavenging (informal recycling) and suggests some measures in order to make this work formal.

Palavras-chave : solid waste; garbage; integral management; utility; local goberment.