We worked on a comprehensive diagnosis of urban solid waste management in Uruguay. The project, which covered the entire national territory except for the metropolitan area of Montevideo, sought to serve as a basis for the design of a Solid Waste Strategic Plan. Our work allowed us to have a global vision of management in order to identify priorities at the national level.

We focused on the evaluation of waste management in the 18 departments of the country, with special emphasis on the final disposal of waste. To do so, we created an environmental quality indicator that considered the location, infrastructure and operation of each site. This allowed us to compare and environmentally classify each of them.

We also analyzed other aspects of integrated waste management, such as selective collection and sorting programs, the work of sorters, home collection, and urban cleaning.

We conducted an economic-financial study for each department, estimating the costs of collection, sweeping and final disposal. In addition, we project waste generation for the next 20 years, based on population growth and income projections.

We defined environmental and operational indicators for each departmental government. We also did macroeconomic modeling to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts in different scenarios. All the information was integrated into a Geographic Information System.

At the end of the work, we deliver the following documents and tools:

• Reports: A global report with the baseline of waste management in the country, and a detailed report by department, with the environmental assessment of each disposal site.
• Geographic Information System (GIS): A system with all georeferenced information for the use of the national government and each departmental government.
• Databases: A database of projects and the legal framework related to waste management.
• Photographic Survey: A photographic record of all the field visits we made.

This project allowed us to provide the Uruguayan government with a comprehensive planning tool for a more efficient, sustainable and organized waste management throughout the country.