The solid waste in Colombia analyzed via gross domestic product: towards a sustainable economy

Abstract

The main goal in this research is to study the Colombia’s solid waste in relation to the general trends of the gross domestic product of the country, a more general overview of the situation with respect to other neighbor countries and some leading economies. The method followed was the analysis and processing of the official and unofficial data of the country, for constructing useful information such as the gross domestic product (GDP), discussed in relation to the generated waste. Since waste related issues demand and requires multi-disciplinary solutions, legal and cultural aspects are also considered in the discussion. The main contribution of this research is new, analized and consolidated data regarding the current economic model in Colombia towards the implementation of a sustainable economy, presented with respect to Latin American and to some leading world economies as well. The investigation has been focused on the sectors that are less-known with respect to the solid waste generation, particularly to the GDP of the construction and demolition waste, and mining wastes, which are of great interest in Colombia for its type of industry.

Keywords

• environmental economy
• solid waste
• recycling
• sustainable development
• Latin America