Within the framework of environmental sustainability and the processes of urbanization, privatization and decentralization, the integral management of urban solid waste is today a concern of singular importance due to its direct and indirect impacts, some of them irreversible and permanent, both on the environment (air, water, land, landscape) and the health of the population. From various angles, the management of urban solid waste has a new connotation, as it is an activity that produces negative impacts on physical and social environments, and where the complementarity between the market and state intervention can achieve efficient and equitable solutions.

The institutional and management aspects of solid waste are of the utmost importance in the execution of any plan, program or project. No matter how well designed an integrated waste management program or project may be, if it does not have the necessary management elements, it cannot be carried out satisfactorily. Most specialists and technicians agree that the appropriate project management design has the same or more importance than the technical aspects.