Measuring Environmental and Ecological Inequalities in the Context of Developing Cities: Waste and Wastewater in Lima

In the last ten years or so, debates have intensified in France around the notions of environmental inequalities and ecological inequalities. Some definitions distinguish between them, whereas others merge them or include one in the other. To advance our understanding of these notions, we reflect on the theoretical debates using empirical work on liquid and solid waste management in the city of Lima (Peru), and try to characterize the relations between social inequalities and inequalities related to the environment.
This fieldwork made it possible to identify a series of indicators measuring and taking into account the inequalities. It was only when this work had been carried out that we returned to the various definitions of environmental and ecological inequalities. The objective was to articulate the elements in the definitions with the indicators of waste management in Lima. This paper transcribes this methodology of measurement, identification and analysis of environmental and ecological inequalities regarding waste. The context of a developing city constrains these efforts due to the scarce and scattered nature of the data available.