By studying the behavior of companies in developed countries, we found that most of the population has a number of regulations that

favor proper integrated management of municipal solid waste. Such behaviors are vitally important they are based on urban environmental awareness, as is the change of habits in our homes, in our city or respect for the rights of others. These behaviors are rooted in the desire for improvement, no excuses and take responsibility, taking the very first instance, not to discriminate on the social sectors (not dirtier who have less), with respect to laws and ordinances, recovery (I can, I want), to correct models (not learned or knew ... but I do), in spite of everything involved (in the absence of support we should try to change habits of others and not to transfer responsibilities. it must be remembered that one is part of the solution). To support these concepts, we might add that in as we move forward in the process of sustainable development, countries in South America are planted to new challenges of various kinds, which often are added to those that have not yet been resolved. While in many European countries, discussing alternative energy, incineration and biodegradation in its maximum state, almost all the American countries are trying to agree on the landfill (dump) or incineration, final destination waste. At present, there is no single system for integrated management or management. In the case of waste, although most of the garbage produced in the world (estimated at over 2 billion tons annually) is buried or incinerated, the predictions for the coming decades are not encouraging, as many countries had to reformulate and strengthen their strategies, directing their efforts towards waste minimization at source, to reuse and to recycle. Argentina, in turn, is fragmented between various scenarios. On the one hand, nationally it comes to solving the plight of open dumps, landfills collapsed, and the lack of a state policy to standardize the procedures to be followed beyond the steps (the fact that the eighth in the world in area, does not give reasons for everything from filling landfills.

On the other hand, the province of Buenos Aires refused to take over 5 000 tonnes per day generated as the Federal Capital and in turn, refuses to serve the nearly 8 million people daily who come to hospitals in the city.

In Argentina, mainly in Buenos Aires, the management of waste generated by municipalities, depending on their size and the resources they have, are usually reduced to the household collection, street cleaning to sweep and transport of such waste to disposal facilities. Those municipalities that are part of the agreement with CEAMSE (Coordination Ecological Society of the State Metropolitan Area) send most of its residential waste to landfill, while the rest of the municipal waste are dumped in open dumps functioning as municipal disposal: landfills or dumps public throughout the whole province of Buenos Aires and rivers in the vicinity. The "cardboard" or also known as informal recyclers, have increased in countries that have undergone rapid and profound economic crisis as a result of increased poverty and unemployment, coupled with the fact that there are no formal initiatives for the integration of this underemployment as the solid waste sector. All this, with the label of "cooperative" means most disadvantaged and socially excluded often poverty in which they live. In other words, within the so-called "management or operation" there is also a form of informal waste collection is performed by so-called "pickers" (people in extreme poverty, most of them driven out of the labor market from the 90 and the terminal crisis of 2001 that, in harsh conditions of insecurity, lack of hygiene and material means, proceed to the collection of certain elements that are part of the waste, the valorized economically devaluation crises, the sale and get a way to survive). Always maintained that I disagree with this procedure since, apart from some organized cooperatives, most of them performed really painful situations. These people usually come from other disciplines. Should be "given back the job they lost." They are not cardboard lifetime. There he was elected. Note that the absence of any hint of planning and integration of these stakeholders, coupled with the harsh health conditions that these people have to endure, causes serious problems of management of municipal solid waste and serious social problems both municipalities involved as the provincial government. Although the health and environmental problems resulting from improper handling of solid waste are well known, the number of open dumps (landfills or illegal dumps) is growing, and the problem of the unavailability of peripheral areas end for the sanitary disposal of municipal waste in a landfill in the region is urgent to seek new solutions or reformulate that were not made at the time. Strategies already known by all as waste minimization, recycling and composting have a significant positive effect on comprehensive, but I understand that is not enough. One aspect to consider is that, currently, there is a poor indicator frameworks reliable information on which to quantify and qualify all waste that live with us. Why was it important to have these indicators? Probably heard many times that city states that X generates X amount of

tons per day. "That" is the indicator of the problem to solve, but it is not real, because we are not considering the amount of waste that are "resting" in a number of open dumps (or dumps), nor is it considered the amount of waste deposited therein. If we were all quantified and qualified, would actually figures very different and a real scenario to solve the problem (what you see and what not). We know what our reality. While knowing what causes the storms do not stop the rain, having full knowledge of what is around us help us to know what to do, how and when. The knowledge allows us to do, and that is important.

S, es cierto que esto es una situacin que genera gran impacto ambiental y una problemtica que parece no tener fin. A su vez, todos hacemos parte del problema y la solucin est en todos, Pero lastimosamente seguimos trabajando independientemente a nivel mundial. Obviamente los pases en va de desarrollo son los ms atrasados en estos temas. Por ello mismo, cabe repetir la frase: " La solucin est en todos". Para m esto hace referencia a que si todos a nivel mundial trabajamos juntos, las soluciones podran llegar fcilmente, Pero como todo en este mundo gira entorno a la ECONOMIA, es bastante colocarnos de acuerdo. No hay que olvidar que la parte de desechos orgnicos con un adecuado manejo a si sea en un botadero a cielo abierto, tiene mas fcil solucin que los desechos no orgnicos en su mayora producidos por los pases industriales que suplen a estos pases en va de desarrollo. Esto quiere decir que a este nivel (en la contaminacin de los pases en va de desarrollo) ya se involucran pases desarrollados los cuales se lucran de los impuestos que las multinacionales locales les dejan a partir de la comercializacin de esta clase de productos a los pases desaventajados. Pero en fin, estos pases no hacen lo suficiente o lo que debera hacer en cuanto al soporte de otros pases necesitan. Ac entra el tema de que estos pases estn enfocados en otras problemticas como la pobreza, la violencia, las drogas, la economa local, entre otros; y por ello tal vez su enfoque no est en el medio ambiente y los desechos. Los pases desarrollados no tienen esta clase de problemticas o al menos no son de gran impacto como en los otros pases. Por ello, debera haber unificacin (la hay, hay proyectos, fondos) pero hace falta algo ms. El tema de moda es el calentamiento global, no el calentamiento de un pas en especfico, ya que el medio ambiente no tiene frontera, por ello debemos actuar juntos y exigir que los gobiernos y todo tipo de institucin relacionada comiencen a actuar de una manera unificada y pensando en que esto no es un problema individual. Por otro lado, no hay que olvidar que muchas de las costumbre Norte americanas y en parte Europeas han llegado desde ya aos atrs a los pases del sur. Entre estas est el consumismo. Una barata estrategia de multinacionales para inundar los mercados con productos que en gran parte de las ocasiones son innecesarios. Por ello se debe exigir a las multinacionales que deben de hacerse responsables por los residuos que generen estos mercados. Por otro lado hay tambin que concientizar a las personas de que hay que disminuir el consumismo para disminuir un poco los residuos en su

origen. Si en realidad queremos cambiar y mejorar el medio ambiente, deberamos tener en cuenta. Materialismo, consumismo, ambicin de poder (pases y empresas), multinacionales sin control, concientizacin de la gente, apoyo financiero, campaas educativas, equidad, entre otros. Todos estos son factores que debern involucrarse si se quiere buscar una solucin. Mientras algunos pases piensan en poder y en petrleo, deberan pensar en la realidad. Donde estn los potenciales para recursos (alimento, energa) en el mundo en vez de explotar de una manera desaforada los minerales de nuestro planeta.

ALFONSO LOPEZ CASTILLO