Mapping solid waste governance modes in a Mexican municipality

ABSTRACT

Human decisions and modes of organization can be analyzed according to their rationale, which can be based on hierarchies, markets, or networks. This classification is known as governance modes. This article addresses municipal solid waste (MSW) governance inside and outside protected areas based on the Sepultura Biosphere Reserve (REBISE) case in Chiapas, Mexico. We conducted semi-structured interviews and a content analysis of laws and municipal regulations to identify the stakeholders and institutions that operate at community and municipal levels. Our research is a first effort to analyze the modes of MSW governance and offers a spatially explicit classification to reveal the spatial differences in how MSW is governed. The populations close to the capital city and the main roads have a multiplicity of mechanisms and modes of MSW governance, which contrasts with distant communities located within the REBISE. This work illustrates the gaps where municipal authorities are unable to fulfill their obligations and the potential of market and collaborative mechanisms. Characterizing governance modes through spatially explicit thematic maps reveals the interactions between stakeholders and formal and informal institutions, which could contribute to territorial planning toward more effective MSW governance.

Summary

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) governance is a social process in which people or organizations (governmental or non-governmental stakeholders) make agreements (formal or informal institutions) about MSW. This process can occur under different contexts, for example, at local, municipal, state or federal scales. The possible interactions between the different types of stakeholders and institutions generate governance structures specific to a social context and historical process (hierarchical structure, markets, networks or hybrids). The identification of these governance structures, through the identification of stakeholders and institutions, allows us to understand internal logics and, therefore, points of improvement in governance. In this research we identify these structures in a Mexican municipality, with the help of maps, in order to present spatially explicit MSW governance information. We succeeded in mapping the hierarchical and market mode at the local and municipal level, and the way in which they interact.

KEYWORDS:

• institutional analysis
• protected areas
• hybrid governance systems
• sustainability
• rural area

Acknowledgements

We thank the ejido commissariats, municipal agents, heads and teachers of public schools, scavengers, itinerant collectors, door-to-door collectors, and local businessmen who selflessly took the time to participate in the interviews and address our inquiries. This study is part of a Ph.D. dissertation in the Postgraduate Program in Ecology and Sustainable Development at ECOSUR and received financial support through a scholarship granted by Mexico’s Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencia y Tecnología (CONAHCyT). María Elena Sánchez-Salazar edited the English manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request. Figures, tables, and complementary material can be found at: Cruz Paz, Grecia (2022), ‘Mapping modes of solid waste governance in a Mexican municipality’, Mendeley Data, V1, doi: 10.17632/3kmd7j6ggj.1

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by CONAHCYT (Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencia y Tecnología; National Council of Humanities, Science, and Technology) by a traditional grant scholarship 2018-1.

Notes on contributors

Grecia Cruz-Paz

Grecia Cruz-Paz El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chiapas, México.