Storage at source or primary: Collection of solid waste immediately after its generation.
Intermediate storage: Collection of solid waste subsequent to primary storage and prior to its collection.
Garbage (Basura): Solid waste that at a social level lacks use value or commercial value. This term is equivalent to solid waste that is not usable over time in any of its phases of natural decomposition (if any). This definition includes household waste, organic and inorganic waste, ashes, street sweeping elements, industrial and commercial waste, waste from hospital establishments and markets, among others.
Collection center (Centro de acopio): Places for the storage, classification, and packing of usable waste, under hygienic conditions that do not endanger human health or contaminate the environment. They must have sanitary infrastructure that allows employees to maintain commonly accepted standards of personal hygiene in accordance with the provisions of the Ley General de Salud and the provisions of PAHO.
Environmental certificate (Certificado ambiental): Administrative instrument that exclusively certifies the approval and authorization for generators, transporters, and operators of the system for the handling, transportation, treatment, or final disposal of solid waste, including hazardous waste. Its renewal depends on the type of certification.
Compost (Composta): Organic fertilizer produced by thermophilic aerobic biodegradation from biodegradable materials with maintenance of temperatures above 55°C for four days in at least three removals of the substrate. The product must contain no less than 1.5% organic Nitrogen, 40% organic matter, 0.5% phosphorus, 0.5% potassium, 0.1% calcium, 0.2% magnesium, the C/N must be less than 15, fr. must be greater than 0.6, and the amounts of heavy metals must not exceed the following concentrations: copper 100 ppm; zinc 400 ppm; mercury 5 ppm; cadmium 4 ppm; nickel 100 ppm; and lead 200 ppm; chromium 200 ppm. Environmental contamination (Contaminación ambiental): The addition of residual materials and energies to the natural environment that directly or indirectly cause a reversible or irreversible loss of the normal condition of ecosystems and their components in general, generating negative and undesirable sanitary, aesthetic, recreational, economic, and ecological consequences, punishable according to the country's environmental legislation.
Solid waste (Desecho sólido): Any object or material in a solid state or of a pasty consistency, except for excreta from animals or people and sludge from wastewater treatment plants, whose owner does not wish to possess it, regardless of whether it has use value or not.
Usable solid waste (Desecho sólido aprovechable): Solid waste that can be reincorporated into the economic or natural metabolism without harm to human health or the environment, such as biodegradable waste, paper and cardboard waste, glass waste, metal waste, car batteries, some plastic waste, and others.
Commercial solid waste (Desecho sólido comercial): Solid waste generated in commercial and mercantile establishments. This includes solid waste from activities such as butcher shops, grocery stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, shoe stores, clothing stores, bars, restaurants, sodas, pharmacies, record stores, craft stores, appliance stores, agricultural supply stores, video stores, veterinary clinics, video game centers, hardware stores, bakeries, Internet centers, seafood restaurants, tourism offices, discotheques, hotels, cabins, ice cream parlors, offices, and other types of businesses.
Household solid waste (Desecho sólido domiciliar): Solid waste generated in residential houses as a product of daily family activities. That which, by its nature, composition, quantity, and volume, is generated in activities in homes or in any establishment assimilable to these.
Non-usable solid waste (Desecho sólido no aprovechable): Solid waste that at a social level lacks use value. This term is equivalent to garbage.
Industrial solid waste (Desecho sólido industrial): Solid waste generated as a result of industrial and manufacturing processes.
Institutional solid waste (Desecho sólido institucional): Solid waste generated in public or private institutions, excluding hospitals and air terminals.
Cardboard waste (Desechos de cartón): Objects made from cardboard that can be used for the manufacture of paper or cardboard.
Paper waste (Desechos de papel): Objects made from paper that can be used for the manufacture of paper or cardboard.
Biodegradable solid waste (Desechos sólidos biodegradables): Any solid or semi-solid waste of animal or vegetable origin, subject to putrefaction, coming from the handling, preparation, and consumption of food. This solid waste, when subjected to biotechnological processes or natural degradation, can be biodegraded in a period of less than 6 months.
Recalcitrant biodegradable solid waste (Desechos sólidos biodegradables recalcitrantes): Solid waste that, when subjected to biotechnological processes, can be biodegraded in a period of less than 6 months.
Hazardous waste (Desechos peligrosos): Those that may cause injuries of any magnitude to collection personnel or the civilian population, such as sharp, metallic, glass, high-density plastic objects, etc.
Hospital solid waste (Desechos sólidos hospitalarios): Solid waste generated in hospitals, medical offices, dental offices, microbiological analysis laboratories, veterinary clinics, and offices.
Non-ordinary solid waste (Desechos sólidos no-cotidianos): Household solid waste that is not generated on a daily basis or that, due to its size or weight, clearly exceeds family solid waste. It includes pathogenic, toxic, combustible, flammable, explosive, volatilizable, and radioactive solid waste. Objects or elements that, due to their size, volume, or weight, require special handling are included in this definition.
Non-traditional solid waste (Residuo sólido no tradicional): Solid waste of household origin whose generation does not occur constantly and whose handling requires special treatment. Among the most common are sanitary ware, tires, wood, old furniture, rubble (escombros), containers with hydrocarbons or oils, septic tanks, gas cylinders, computer equipment, office equipment, household appliances, and others.
Biotechnologically usable waste (Desechos aprovechables biotecnológicamente): Biodegradable waste that can be used in the production of organic fertilizer that complies with the standards established at the national level and with those of this regulation.
Sanitary disposal of garbage (Disposición sanitaria de basuras): It is the process by which garbage is definitively placed in the ground, following, among others, burial and sanitary landfill (relleno sanitario) techniques.
Fermentation of biodegradable waste (Fermentación de Desechos biodegradables): This refers to biodegradation in the absence of oxygen with biogas capture and its incineration. During the process, bad odors are not allowed to cause discomfort to people or originate a proliferation of insects or other pests. The biodegradation products must be harmless to plants and be biologically stabilized.
Generators of solid waste (Generadores de Desechos sólidos): Any natural or legal person that produces any type of solid waste.
Environmental management (Gestión ambiental): A set of procedures through which a public entity can intervene to modify, influence, or guide the uses of the environment as well as the impacts of human activities upon it, through actions aimed at achieving maximum rationality in the decision-making process related to the conservation, defense, protection, and improvement of the environment, based on an interdisciplinary and global approach. Likewise, it is a set of procedures through which the Municipalidad can intervene to modify, influence, or guide the uses of the environment, as well as the impacts of anthropic activities on it, taking into consideration the aspects of total management (including planning) that determine and implement the environmental policy of the local Government.
Integrated solid waste management (Gestión integrada de los Desechos sólidos): A set of environmental management measures at the family, institutional, or industrial level aimed at avoiding, storing, collecting, separating, and using solid waste with the objective of minimizing waste generation, maximizing its use, reducing management costs, minimizing the amount of garbage, as well as avoiding nuisances and damages to the well-being of people or the environment.
Discriminated waste management (Manejo discriminado de Desechos): A set of actions aimed at storing, collecting, and treating solid waste classified according to its physical and chemical nature, and according to the conveniences for its commercialization or industrialization.
Composting plant (Planta de compostaje): An installation that allows the conversion of biodegradable waste into compost.
Pathogenic solid waste (Residuo sólido patógeno): That which, due to its characteristics and composition, can be a reservoir or vehicle of infection for the civilian population or the local biota.
Toxic solid waste (Residuo sólido tóxico): That which, due to its physical or chemical characteristics, depending on its concentration and time of exposure, can cause harm and even death to living beings, or cause environmental contamination. Among the main ones are asbestos waste, beryllium waste, unwashed pesticide containers, cleaning solvents, liquids from data processing machines and copiers, obsolete or expired explosives, oil waste, cytotoxic waste, and expired pharmaceuticals.
Combustible solid waste (Residuo sólido combustible): That which burns in the presence of oxygen or another combustion-ignition factor. Among the main ones are Alcohols, Aldehydes, Halogenated Hydrocarbons, Nitrogenated Hydrocarbons, Used solutions of cyanides, sulfides, Chlorates and other strong oxidants, chlorites, chromic acid, Hypochlorite, Nitrates, Nitric acid, Perchlorates, Permanganates, and Peroxides.
Volatilizable solid waste (Residuo sólido volatizable): Waste that, due to its vapor pressure at room temperature, evaporates or volatilizes constantly, undergoing a change in its molecular and biochemical structure.
Solid waste collection (Recolección de Desechos sólidos): Service for the transportation of solid waste between primary or intermediate storage and composting plants or collection centers or utilization industries or technical deposits.
Zoonosis (Zoonosis): Disease or infection that occurs in animals and is transmitted to human beings.
General Provisions