Field Actions Science Reports (Sep 2010)
Thinking and acting strategically: promoting integrated solid waste management and corporate responsibility through a public private partnership; the case of Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Abstract
This article provides an assessment of a public private partnerships (PPP) among the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the Municipality of Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico and private counterparts BASF Mexicana and Terminal de LNG de Altamira (TLA). The municipality of Altamira, located in the urban-industrial hub of southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, faces important challenges in the field of urban public service delivery, particularly waste management, due to a high demographic growth rate and chronic budgetary constraints. The partnership was formed as a means to develop and implement the Municipal Program for the Prevention and Integrated Management of Solid and Special Wastes. The paper discusses the efficacy of the PPP as a policy instrument for the implementation of integrated solid waste management. As an assessment method, the authors draw on GTZ’s success criteria for the cooperation with the private sector. Criteria include the degree of complementarity, subsidiarity, neutrality and quality of private sector contributions. We argue that this PPP displays a pioneering alliance structure, since the private sector becomes a direct ally in creating strategies for the promotion sustainable development and not simply an exclusive contractor for urban public services delivery or a recipient of incentives from international development cooperation. The PPP provides a means to reach corporate social and environmental responsibility goals while at the same time it promotes development-related policy goals enshrined in the bilateral cooperation agreement between Germany and Mexico. However, the alliance faces important challenges related to different organizational cultures, electoral times and citizen participation.
