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Model for Estimating the Costs of Managing Recyclable Waste with the Inclusion of Recyclers

By Water and Sanitation Division (VPS/INE/WSA)

This resource provides a model for estimating the costs of managing recyclable waste with the inclusion of recyclers. It is an analytical tool designed to analyze the costs associated with various levels of recycler inclusion and to support decision-making in the structuring of integrated solid waste management systems for countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Purpose

Including informal and organized recyclers in formal waste-management systems is a recurring policy challenge in the region, with implications for service costs, environmental outcomes, and the livelihoods of waste pickers. This model helps planners and decision-makers reason about how different degrees of recycler inclusion affect the costs of selective collection and sorting of recyclable materials, so that solid-waste systems can be designed with transparent cost assumptions.

What is included

The resource is distributed as a methodological document (PDF) explaining the model and an accompanying macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) that operationalizes the cost-estimation logic. Together they allow users to follow the methodology and to apply it to their own scenarios and parameters.

Intended uses

The model is intended for use by national and municipal governments, waste-management planners, project designers, consultants, researchers, and development practitioners structuring integrated solid waste management systems. It supports project cost estimation and the comparison of inclusion scenarios during the planning and structuring of recycling programs.

Access and reuse

The resource is published as open data by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 IGO license, and carries a persistent DOI for stable citation. A related IDB publication is referenced as the source for the underlying methodology.

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Metadata & use

Identifier https://doi.org/10.60966/xazw-kg14
License Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 IGO
Related Knowledge Product
Citation

Correal, Magda, et al. (2017). Model for Estimating the Costs of Managing Recyclable Waste with the Inclusion of Recyclers. IDB Open Data. https://doi.org/10.60966/xazw-kg14
Published date 2017-10-19
Modified date 2026-06-25
Tags/Keywords Project Cost Estimation · Recycling · Waste Management
Language
  1. Spanish
Temporal coverage 2017-2017
Country
Antigua & Barbuda
Argentina
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
French Guiana
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Martinique
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
St. Barthélemy
St. Lucia
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Vincent & Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad & Tobago
U.S. Virgin Islands
Uruguay
Venezuela
Region Latin America and the Caribbean
Publisher
Inter-American Development Bank
Author
Correal, Magda
Laguna, Andrea
Osorio, Angela
Data collection type Observational Data
Data structure Semistructured Data
Data notes

What does this model do?

It estimates the costs of managing recyclable waste under different levels of recycler inclusion, helping decision-makers structure integrated solid waste management systems.

What does "inclusion of recyclers" mean here?

It refers to the degree to which recyclers (waste pickers) are integrated into formal selective-collection and sorting systems; the model lets users analyze how different inclusion levels affect costs.

Which region does it apply to?

It is designed to support decision-making for countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

What files are included?

A methodological document in PDF that explains the model and a macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) that implements the cost-estimation logic.

Who is the intended audience?

National and municipal governments, waste-management planners, project designers, consultants, researchers, and development practitioners working on solid-waste and recycling programs.

How can I use the spreadsheet?

The macro-enabled spreadsheet operationalizes the methodology described in the PDF, so you can enter your own parameters and scenarios to estimate costs for selective collection and sorting of recyclables.

Is there an underlying publication?

Yes. The dataset references a related IDB publication as the source for the methodology, available through the IDB publications repository.

What license applies to this resource?

It is released under Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 IGO (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/), requiring attribution and restricting commercial use and derivatives.

What time reference does the model have?

The resource is associated with a 2017 reference period. Users should adapt parameters such as prices and volumes to their own current context.

How do I cite this dataset?

Correal, Magda, et al. (2017). Model for Estimating the Costs of Managing Recyclable Waste with the Inclusion of Recyclers. IDB Open Data. https://doi.org/10.60966/xazw-kg14

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