SWOT analysis for the improvement of Municipal Solid Waste Management Planning : A Case Study of Iribarren Municipality, Venezuela

Abstract: This study presents the formulation of planning guidelines to apply by the responsible entity for municipal solid waste management (IMAUBAR) in Iribarren Municipality, Venezuela, with the aim of complying with the recent legislative instrument passed in December 2010, the Law of Integrated Management of Garbage. An overview of the Latin American Region solid waste management planning documents was carried out to determine the trends in the waste management approaches, as well as a brief examination was perfomed about the national existing conditions of SWM and its legislative framework in Venezuela. Along with this, the assessment of the current MSWMS of Iribarren Municipality, and major stakeholders involved in the system was carried out. A SWOT analysis was implemented, clustering data found in the literature review, semi-structure interviews, and site visits in order to obtain strategic actions from the overall SWOT profile. The data was grouped according to three action areas; institutional aspects, environmental aspects and socioeconomic aspects. Subsequently, the creation of ranking critera was performed to classify the outcome strategic actions in order to formulate the planning guidelines for IMAUBAR. The most relevant planning guidelines of this study lead to corrective actions to be undertaken by the IMAUBAR in regards to the enhancement of internal and external communication for increasing the level of public awareness about the new legislative instrument, and ongoing recycling projects in Iribarren Municipality. Also, the mitigation of environmental impacts, and augment of safety at the Pavia landfill is suggested, as well as inter-institutional cooperation for the solid waste characterisation. Among other planning guidelines created there is the promotion of cooperatives by IMAUBAR as an alternative form of organization is proposed between the collection companies and the existing group of people illegally working at Pavia landfill called gancheros for the improvement of the MSWM in Iribarren.