Bases para la exitosa implantación de sistemas de gestión de residuos orgánicos municipales
Authors:   , Sánchez Arizmendiarrieta Joseba 
Published: December 2024

The generation of municipal waste is an inherent activity of society that tends to increase mainly due to human activity, uninterrupted population growth and the linear economy model. Biodegradable materials are the major component of municipal waste, yet natural systems are unable to adequately reincorporate them because they are usually mixed with other materials. Another of society's current challenges is to reverse the constant loss of soil fertility, largely due to the lack of edaphic organic matter, which is essential for the correct "functioning" of the soil and the sustainability of agrosystems, as well as the mitigation of climate change by retaining organic C in soils. Given the global problem of municipal waste generation and management, it is considered convenient and necessary to study and improve the management of municipal organic waste in order to reduce the loss of raw materials, protect the soil, ecosystems, people's health and, in turn, regenerate the climate, and the European Union is increasingly tightening the obligations and restrictions imposed by legislation and establishing more ambitious and restrictive objectives in the Waste Management Plans. Furthermore, in Europe, organic waste represents on average 46% of total municipal waste and, according to the European Composting Network, only 20-60% of total municipal organic waste is collected and treated separately. Evidently, this is a waste fraction with a wide margin of possible improvement where there is a great variety and diversity of successful management models, but not a single option that adapts to all situations. Therefore, an individualized study of each situation is necessary in order to establish an optimal and efficient management. This work, focused on the territorial scope of the Autonomous Community of Euskadi, analyzes the key aspects of municipal organic waste management in order to establish a suitable basis for the design of the most appropriate models for waste management in each area. To this end, after analyzing the regulatory and strategic reference framework and conceptualizing the concept of municipal waste, the current situation and the results of its management are presented, focusing on the different alternatives implemented in the territory. Subsequently, the influence of the selective municipal waste collection systems on the quantity and quality of the recoverable household waste fractions is analyzed by checking the effect of the different municipal waste collection systems on the quantity and composition of the waste. Next, the typology and status of the community composting areas installed in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country are determined, identifying the factors that affect whether a community composting facility is successful or not. Finally, commercial compost on an industrial scale and compost for self-consumption produced in community composting facilities are evaluated, making a comparison between them. From the results obtained from the first study, it is concluded that implementing a control in the waste input and collection systems, as well as identifying the user, improve the quality results of the different fractions and, simultaneously, reduce the amount of waste diverted to landfill. In turn, it is verified that the training of technical personnel is a key factor in achieving success when implementing a municipal organic waste management system based on community composting. Finally, it has been demonstrated that the compost obtained from the community composting process presented a higher quality than commercial compost. However, in order to support and enhance its dissemination, it would be interesting to address in future studies also social, demographic, political, economic and environmental aspects associated with these practices.