# Solid Waste Management in Peru's Cities: A Clustering Approach for an Andean District
## 1 Introduction  
Urban growth requires greater spending and investment in goods and services and generates improvements in terms of waste management, called waste or solid waste (SW), which is mostly organic [1, 2]. SW has an environmental impact, which increases as urban areas grow and time progresses. Poor SW management facilitates the deterioration of green areas, leaving society at greater risk [3, 4]. The projection for 2050 estimates an increase of 3.05 billion tons of total waste per year, a value much higher than that of 2016, with a total of 2.01 billion tons [5, 6]. However, organic waste is projected to decrease from 49 to 37 percent [5, 7, 8]. Given this context, decision making to appropriately redirect industrialization and urbanization to prevent the explosive growth of SW is inevitable [9, 10]. For Latin America or other continents, sustainable management strategies can help recover and sustain green areas, thereby recovering urban ecosystems [11, 12]. In this sense, there is a need to design protocols together with parallel processes that provide alternative waste management policies or complement existing techniques, such as low-cost composting or other more expensive strategies such as incineration, pyrolysis and gasification, among others [13, 14]. Recent studies show how solid waste is potentially a usable energy source according to SW management and mitigation methodologies within the context of a circular economy [15, 16], as is the case in the region of Guangdong, China, where municipal urbanwaste and other residues, such as manure from farms, can be recycled using properly efficient waste disposal methods [17; 18]. In Latin America, solid waste management techniques seek to maintain an acceptable margin for public health, since the degree of environmental impact is undeniably linked to poor waste management or urban arrangements [19; 20; 21]. On the other hand, highly developed countries generally have well-developed systems for proper waste management, which directly impacts the economy, as well as the environment [22; 23]. Peru, as well as other developing countries, tends to prioritize urban growth, which leaves a gap in solid waste management due to the rapid urban changes accompanying the growth of cities [24; 25]. In Peru, the generation of organic SW from domestic use has varied, partially as a result of precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is an indicator of promptly disposing of products to avoid affecting the health of residents [26; 27; 28]. In Ayacucho, Peru, possible SW management and mitigation measures are being evaluated due to the impact of COVID-19 [29]. Ayacucho is characterized by having limited resources and access together with a population distributed in rural and urban areas for both agricultural and typical urban activities [30]. Among the communities that stand out for the generation of waste is Occochaca, in the District of Huanta, where inadequate SW management led to outbreaks of hepatitis and anemia [31]. Close to Occochaca, is the populated center of Sacsamarca, Huancasancos province, with cases of gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory difficulties and notorious impact on livestock due to SW distributed and inadequately managed in the area [32]. In this sense, the set of factors that influence SW generation are the object of study in order to develop SW mitigation policies and procedures that make continuous development and prosperous urban growth possible. Given these reasons, the present study proposes generating appropriate organic SW management policies and systems to obtain a better understanding and extension of each of the sub-stages involved in the District of Santa Rosa, Ayacucho. The considerations are detailed below, as well as the set of protocols structured in the following order:  
* The present study proposes to structure a set of methodological sequences to describe, quantify and segregate all organic SW generated as a product of urban consumption and design a mitigation plan.