The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the Americas, the continent with the highest number of COVID-related deaths according to WHO statistics. In Latin America, strict confinement conditions at the beginning of the pandemic put recycling activity to a halt and augmented the consumption of plastic as a barrier to stop the spread of the virus. The lack of data to understand waste management dynamics complicates waste management strategy adjustments aimed at coping with COVID-19. As a novel contribution to the waste management data gap for Latin America, this study uses a virtual and participatory methodology that collects and generates information on household solid waste generation and composition. Data was collected between June and November 2021 in six countries in Latin America, with a total of 503 participants. Participants indicated that the pandemic motivated them to initiate or increase waste reduction (41%), waste separation (40%), and waste recovery (33%) activities. Forty-three percent of participants perceived an increase in total volume of their waste; however, the quantitative data showed a decrease in household waste generation in Peru (−31%), Honduras (−25%), and Venezuela (−82%). No changes in waste composition were observed. Despite the limited sample size, this data provides a much-needed approximation of household waste generation and composition in the pandemic situation during 2021. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10661-022-10771-9.

The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly impacted Latin America, the continent with the highest number of cases and Covid-related deaths. Strict confinement conditions at the beginning of the pandemic put to a halt recycling activities and augmented the consumption of plastic as a barrier to stop the spread of the virus. In Latin America the lack of data to understand the waste management dynamics difficult the adjustment of waste management strategies to cope with the Covid-19. As a novel contribution to the waste management data gap for Latin America, this study uses a virtual and participatory methodology that collects and generates information on household solid waste generation and composition. Data was collected between June and November 2021 in six countries in the Latin America region, with a total of 503 participants. Participants indicated that the pandemic motivated them to initiate or increase waste reduction (41%), waste separation (40%) and waste recovery (33%) activities. 43% of participants perceived and increase on their total volume of waste; however, the quantitative data showed a decrease on household waste generation in Peru (-31%), Honduras (-25%) and Venezuela (-82%). No changes in waste composition were observed. Despite the limited sample size, this data provides a much-needed approximation of household waste generation and composition in a pandemic situation during 2021.

En los años 60 y 70 del siglo pasado muchas ciudades latinoamericanas tuvieron una anárquica expansión a través de asentamientos irregulares, formados por la masiva migración rural, los que posteriormente dieron lugar a la formación de colonias populares. En éstas fue común la autoconstrucción precaria de viviendas y un incansable proceso de gestión y lucha para la introducción de los servicios básicos. Si a finales del siglo pasado se veía ya que la modernidad de las ciudades traía aparejado muestras de un agravamiento en la división social del espacio, en la actualidad, cuando ya han transcurrido diez años de este nuevo siglo, estos problemas son notoriamente perversos. Por doquier se producen desarrollos y fraccionamientos de viviendas residenciales con distintos nombres: “cottos”, fraccionamientos defensivos, cerrados, etc. en los cuales los servicios básicos son proporcionados por los mismos usuarios, mientras que al lado de éstos coexisten barrios y colonias populares con viviendas autoconstruidas sin servicios básicos o deficientes. La producción de vivienda es el principal elemento urbano causante del crecimiento y la expansión de las ciudades. Durante este proceso la ciudad experimenta una gran cantidad de complejas problemáticas, relacionadas entre sí, como los servicios básicos (agua, drenaje, electricidad), recolección de desechos sólidos urbanos, transporte público, dotación de equipamientos e infraestructura, valor y uso del suelo, la vivienda, entre muchos más. En este estudio, la división social del espacio se representa en el espacio urbano, utilizando cartografía georeferenciada, a través de los tipos de poblamiento formados por los diferentes estratos sociales. Una manera de analizar esta problemática urbana es analizando indicadores censales relacionados con el nivel de ingreso de los hogares, las formas de tenencia de la vivienda, tipos de hogar, genero, edad y otras relacionadas con la calidad de la vivienda como número de cuartos, disponibilidad de servicios, disponibilidad de excusado, baño y cocina exclusivo, disponibilidad de bienes, material en pisos, paredes y techo, entre otras características que influyen en la calidad de vida de sus ocupantes utilizando los datos proporcionados por los censos y conteos de población y vivienda del INEGI a partir de 1990, a nivel de AGEB (Áreas Geoestadísticas Básicas). The production of housing is the principal urban causative element of the growth and the expansion of the cities. During this process the city experiences a great quantity of complex problematic urban related between yes. This way in the 60s and 70s of last century many Latin-American cities had an anarchic expansion across irregular accessions formed by the massive migration of the field which later gave place to the formation of popular colonies. In these there was common the precarious auto-construction of housings and a tireless process of management and fight on the part of the colonists for the introduction of the basic services. By the ends of the century one saw since the modernity of the cities was bringing prepared samples of a worsening in the social division of the space. All Everywhere developments take place are produced and fraccionary of residential housings with different names: "cottos", fraccionary protections, enclosures, etc. In which the basic services are provided by the same users, whereas next to these neighborhoods and popular colonies coexist with precarious housings autoconstructed without basic or deficient services. In this study, the social division of the space is represented in the urban space, using cartography georeferency across the types of poblamiento formed by the different social strats. A way of analyzing this urban problematics is analyzing sensual indicators, to level of AGEB based on the Censuses and Counts of Population and Housing of the INEGI from 1990, as the level of revenue of the homes and types, the possession, number of rooms, bedroom and occupants' average, availability of basic exclusive services, of lavatory and kitchen, availability of goods and material in floors, walls and ceilings. Characteristics that influence the quality of life of yours occupants.

Algunos de los efectos de la globalización han sido los de homogenizar, en cierto sentido, las políticas económicas, sociales y culturales, que en caso de la producción de la vivienda, se manifiesta en la construcción de un código que parece ser eficaz al ofrecer desarrollos habitacionales aparentemente adecuados a la demanda actual de consumo. Arquitecturas de “apariencia” cuyo propósito es convencer y seducir, la cual en muchas ocasiones no cumple con lo ofertado a través de los medios publicitarios, pero los cuales inciden en la construcción del imaginario arquitectónico-social.

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