THE ROLE OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTORS IN SOLID WASTE MANAGE- MENT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

SUMMARY: Whilst in industrialized countries reasonable means are spent on refuse recycling and reclamation, this is practiced to a very efficient degree in the developing world. The formal and informal sectors play a major part in the recycling system of these countries. The complex recycling system of the formal (registered as tax payers) and informal sector of Phitsanulok, a city of 120,000 inhabitants in Thailand’s Central Plains, has been surveyed to assess its efficiency especially concerning the relief of the local landfill. The joint recycling activities account for 38 % of the entire waste generation; therefore, the activities play an important role in the expansion of landfill lifetime. The quantities of recyclables collected and sold by the formal and informal sectors and other contributors sum-up to 19,200 tons/year. Sanitary landfill scavengers are of minor importance reducing the wastes before dumping around 0.6 %... The recycling activities comprise a comprehensive approach at great level of detail. Main fractions by weight are paper 36%, glass bottles 26%, and plastic container 9 % and by value aluminum cans (3 % weight). 1. RECYCLING AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Waste recycling and resource recovery is the effective way to reduce the need for landfill area