Collection (Acopio): An action aimed at gathering solid waste in a determined and appropriate place for its separation and commercialization.
Temporary Storage: Deposit of solid waste or solid waste (residuos o desechos sólidos) for a short period, in containers prior to its collection, treatment, or final disposal.
Recovery (Aprovechamiento): A set of actions whose purpose is to maintain the constituent materials in economic or commercial cycles, through their reuse, manufacturing, redesign, reprocessing, recycling, and recovery of secondary materials, whereby their economic value is not lost.
Community Collection Center (Centro de acopio comunal): Community facility, with the necessary equipment, for the storage of recoverable solid waste (residuos sólidos valorizables) generated by residents, prior to segregated collection by the respective vehicles for transport to a materials recovery center (centro de recuperación de materiales).
Materials Recovery Center (Centro de recuperación de materiales): A permanent site for receipt and temporary storage of waste for its valorization, where recoverable materials can be weighed, classified, separated, and prepared according to their nature (e.g., plastic, cardboard, paper, glass, and metals) for subsequent commercialization.
Classification: The activity of sorting waste materials by type and characteristics for subsequent recovery.
Container: A receptacle intended for the temporary deposit of solid waste.
Composting: A technique that allows the decomposition of biodegradable organic matter in a controlled manner to achieve a product usable as a soil amendment.
Waste (Desecho): Material that, once used or for any other reason, is not functional for the person who acquired it.
Final Disposal: The action of depositing or permanently confining solid waste in sites or facilities whose characteristics are those of a site designed for this purpose.
Generation Source: Place where waste is generated.
Generator: Individual or legal entity, public or private, user of the municipal service of collection, treatment, and final disposal of the solid waste it produces.
Comprehensive Solid Waste Management (Gestión integral de residuos): An articulated and interrelated set of regulatory, operational, financial, administrative, educational, planning, monitoring, and evaluation actions for the handling of waste, from its generation to final disposal.
Municipality: For the purposes of this Regulation, whenever indicated, the Municipality shall be understood as the Municipality of Esparza.
Municipal Plan for Comprehensive Solid Waste Management (PMGIRS): Instrument that defines cantonal policy on the matter and will guide municipal and/or cantonal actions on the topic within its area of jurisdiction. It is the result of a planning process preferably carried out in a participatory manner by the municipality, incorporating the various actors of the canton.
Collection: An activity carried out to gather ordinary or recyclable solid waste for subsequent transport to a treatment and final disposal plant or a materials recovery center.
Recycling: Subjecting a used material to a process so that it can be used again, such as repeatedly subjecting a material to the same cycle, to broaden or increase its effects.
Segregated Collection: A separate collection service for solid waste previously classified at the generation source according to the type of material, which allows it to be valorized.
Reduction: An activity that allows decreasing the amount of solid waste generated or disposed of by a person.
Sanitary Landfill (Relleno Sanitario): An engineering method for the final disposal of solid waste generated in the canton in accordance with the Regulation on Sanitary Landfills.
Waste (Residuos): Solid, gaseous, or liquid material contained in a receptacle or container, which its generator or possessor wishes or must dispose of, and which can be valorized or treated responsibly.
Construction and Demolition Waste: those solid wastes generated in tasks such as: construction, reconstruction, repair, alteration, expansion, and demolition of buildings, and urbanization works of any nature, whether urban or rural.
Special Handling Waste (Residuo de manejo especial): Those ordinary wastes that, due to their volume, quantity, potential risks, transport needs, storage conditions, or recovery value, must be separated from the normal stream of ordinary waste.
Organic Waste (Residuo orgánico): Easily biodegradable solid or semi-solid waste, of animal or vegetable origin, which can be decomposed and recovered through composting.
Hazardous Waste (Residuo peligroso): That which, due to its corrosive, combustible, sharp, or puncture-causing characteristics, or a combination thereof, may cause harm to human health and the environment. The following, among others, shall be considered hazardous waste originating in housing units: expired medicines, glass thermometers, fluorescent lamps, light fixtures, batteries, flammable substances (paint and solvent residues), used oils, electronic equipment, and injection needles or other sharp objects.
Ordinary Solid Waste (Residuo sólido ordinario): Waste of a domestic nature generated in homes and any other source whose characteristics mean they are not a direct source of danger to health or the environment. Special handling or hazardous wastes are excluded, such as those that are the product of industrial, medical, and pharmaceutical activity.
Recoverable Solid Waste (Residuo sólido valorizable): Waste that has reuse value or has the potential to be valorized through recycling or composting processes.
Bulky or Non-Traditional Solid Waste (Residuo sólido voluminoso o no tradicional): Those objects disposed of by their owners sporadically, having reached the end of their useful life, which due to their size, weight, or characteristics are not suitable for ordinary collection and require a special collection service; such as refrigerators, water heaters, stoves, mattresses, washing machines, or any furniture of similar characteristics.
Separation: Forming homogeneous groups of elements that were mixed with others.
Waste Separation (Separación de los residuos): Procedure by which the mixing of solid waste is prevented from the generation source, which allows it to be disposed of in a classified and separated manner, for collection purposes.
Treatment: Transformation of waste or specific parts into new products or the change of their characteristics, such as recycling, composting, mechanical biological treatment, thermal treatment, among others.
User: For the purposes of the provision of the services regulated herein, every individual and legal entity who is affected by or benefits from the Comprehensive Solid Waste Management (GIRS) services has the status of user.
Valorization: A set of associated actions whose objective is to give added value to waste for production processes through the recovery of materials and/or energy utilization and the rational use of resources.