Assessing the Role of Citizen Participation in Solid Waste Management (Practices) Towards a Circular
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Assessing the role of Citizen Participation in Solid Waste Management (practices) towards a circular A case study of Pachuca City in Mexico Elias Hernandez Valera February 2020 Elias Hernandez Valera ID. 910710329100 Assessing the role of Citizen Participation in Solid Waste Management (practices) towards a circular economy model Land Use Planning (LUP) Group MSc. Urban Environmental Management LUP Code: 80436 – Msc Thesis Land Use Planning 36 ECTS Supervised by: dr. ir. WGM (Wim) van der Knaap Examiner: dr.ir. GJ (Gerrit-Jan) Carsjens Wageningen UR Droevendaalsesteeg 3 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands Preface In your hands is the last project of my MSc Urban Environmental Management; Assessing the role of Citizen Participation in Solid Waste Management (practices) towards a circular economy model. This research has been conducted and written as the final step towards graduating from the MSc Urban Environmental Management with specialisations in Land Use Planning and a Technology track internship. I started this trajectory in September 2017 and finished it in February 2020 at Wageningen University and Research. This report outlines my understanding of the impact and participation of citizens in SWM, using my hometown Pachuca in Mexico as a case study. I am grateful to my supervisor Dr.ir. WGM (Wim) van der Knaap for his supervision and intensive support during my thesis. I value highly his patience with me, his flexibility and his effort. It has been an incredible learning curve. Besides that, I would like to express my gratitude to CONACYT and CITNOVA for giving me the opportunity to follow this Masters programme in The Netherlands. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, friends and Rianne for their support during all times as well as their constant encouragement during my MSc Urban Environmental Management at Wageningen University and Research. I hope you enjoy reading this research. Elias Hernandez Valera Wageningen, February 2020 Acknowledgements During my Masters in Wageningen I became interested in citizen participation and innovations; how new technologies can help to increase awareness and how they can impact and change the way we perceive waste. Conducting this research and writing this thesis has been an instructive academic experience for me, I am grateful to my professors, lecturers, friends and fellow students that I shared this with. The sharing of their experience and knowledge has helped me throughout the process. To all the people that were open to give interviews, I want to express my gratefulness. Thank you for your comments and sharing your views and opinions. I want to say thank you to my supervisor Wim, for all the support, patience, time and knowledge he has shared with me during this experience. He has helped to shape this report and has been an incredible mentor to me during my MSc thesis. Contents Abstract Summary 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Objectives...................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2. Thesis Outline ................................................................................................................................ 9 2. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.1. The Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) ............................................................................................. 11 2.1.1. Niche level ........................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2. Regime level ........................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.3. Landscape level ................................................................................................................... 12 2.2. Typologies of Participation ......................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1. Ladder of Citizen Participation of Arnstein ........................................................................ 14 2.3. Circular economies ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1. Circularity ............................................................................................................................ 15 2.3.2. Solid Waste Management ................................................................................................... 17 2.3.3. Participation and Circularity in Solid Waste Management (SWM) ..................................... 18 2.4. Participation by innovations ....................................................................................................... 25 3. Methods and case study area: Pachuca, Hidalgo. ............................................................................... 27 3.1. Problem identification related with SWM .................................................................................. 28 3.2. Study Area ................................................................................................................................... 29 3.3. Landfill visit ................................................................................................................................. 30 3.4. Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 31 3.5. Interviews and Interviewees....................................................................................................... 37 3.6. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 41 4. Results: Participatory process and the Solid Waste Management (SWM) of Pachuca, Hidalgo ........ 43 4.1.1. The Solid waste Management (SWM) Landscape level ...................................................... 43 4.1.2. The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Regime level .......................................................... 44 4.1.3. The Solid waste Management (SWM) Niche level .............................................................. 53 4.2. SWM Context of Participatory Processes in Pachuca ................................................................. 54 4.2.1. Federal, State and Municipality regulations on SWM ........................................................ 54 4.3. Characterization of Citizen Participation in SWM divided per MLP dimension .......................... 55 4.4. Characterization of SWM Process in Pachuca ............................................................................ 65 4.5. Circularity in Pachuca .................................................................................................................. 68 4.5.1. Opportunities of circularity in SWM .................................................................................... 70 5. Discussion: Circularity by Citizen Participation in SWM ...................................................................... 72 5.1. The meaning of Citizen Participation at SWM in Pachuca .......................................................... 72 5.1.1. Level of Participation Performed by Citizens at SWM ........................................................ 74 5.1.2. Theory Versus Practice: Citizen Participation by Circularity ............................................... 75 5.2. Pachuca´s Potential Circular Transition, window of opportunity for innovations ...................... 79 5.3. Possible bias in execution of the research .................................................................................. 81 5.4. Answer to the Research Question .............................................................................................. 81 6. Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................... 83 6.1. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 83 6.2. Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 85 Annexes ....................................................................................................................................................... 93 Annex 1 Interview content ...................................................................................................................... 93 Annex 2 Interview analysis table ............................................................................................................. 94 Annex 3 Stakeholder information ........................................................................................................... 95 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 HUIXMI LANDFILL (GOOGLE, N.D.-A) ............................................................................................................. 7 FIGURE 2 ALIGNMENT OF THE THREE THEORIES USED FOR THIS STUDY .................................................................... 10 FIGURE 3 LANDSCAPE, REGIME IINTERACTION (GEELS, 2002) .................................................................................... 13 FIGURE