Solid waste management in disaster situations (PAHO, 2003)

How does a natural disaster affect the solid waste management system of a city? What actions should be taken to manage wastes, such as rubble, debris, trees and weeds and-at worst- human and animal bodies? How should the needs of provisional shelters and camps of victims be met? How should hazardous wastes, as those generated in health facilities, be managed? In what aspects and how the community involvement should be encouraged?

Solid waste management in disaster situations is a guideline that answers the above and other concerns based on the experience of Latin America and the Caribbean. It was prepared by several professionals from different countries of the Region who have specialized both in the management of disasters and solid waste. The volume is addressed to the technical personnel of the sanitation sector, health professionals, and all those specialists who collaborate in the recovery of basic services damaged by disasters to safeguard the population's health.

Besides the guidelines and basic actions, the book offers case studies on solid waste management after different types of disasters occurred in the Region: the earthquake that affected the Eje Cafetero in Colombia (1999), the eruption of El Reventador volcano in Ecuador (2002), and the avalanches along the central Coast of Venezuela (1999). Furthermore, it includes texts on the Oakland forest fires (1991) and the floods in the Midwest of the United States (1993).