The objective of this guide is to establish the instruments for the development of a characterization study of urban solid waste, in residential and non-residential buildings. Said instruments constitute a series of basic procedures that describe the steps to follow to obtain the information corresponding to the characteristics of the MSW, such as: generation per capita, weight, volume, apparent density and humidity; Also, it describes how to obtain the samples and their distribution. In the case of chemical analyzes, these must be carried out in laboratories with the corresponding accreditations and / or certifications.