Like the Historic House, Los Valles and the milanesa sandwiches, garbage represents a hallmark of Tucumán.Although the idea bothers us or we pretend to be ignorant, that does not detract from the truth.Although we have made some progress in recent years, the path to a clean city still seems like a utopia.What else remains to be done?On this point, the civil engineer Franco Damián Malsenido has several alternatives in mind.The first is to efficiently manage urban solid waste (MSW) from localities prone to flooding.Yesterday, during the Engineering Week 2022 (carried out by the National Technological University-Tucumán Regional Faculty), the professional presented his peculiar proposal.A brief spoiler: waste, trains and collectors go hand in hand.The project consists of working within the circuit that goes along National Route No. 157, from Simoca to Taco Ralo.The tour includes Atahona, Monteaguado and La Madrid.“Having a depressed plain topography, these areas are at high risk of flooding,” he says.On the other hand, they also play against the bad habits of the neighbors.“Most of the population deposits it in open dumps or landfills.When the floods arrive, the water causes the emptying of these sites and spreads various vectors and diseases to urban centers”, explains the speaker.The consequences range from unfortunate material damage to consequences for the environment and the health of its inhabitants."Even the pollution situation is aggravated because the dumps are usually found in the main accesses of the different localities and near some rivers (for example, the Gastona or Marapa)", he warns.The thousands of bags that are in them impact the large flows that flow into the Río Hondo Reservoir.By adding each of the previous points, the collateral effects in these areas are doubled.Despite the years, the memory of the 2015 floods and its disasters in the interior still remains.The 4Rs in actionOne part of the proposal refers to reducing the volume of waste that accumulates in that delimited area.More than 40% of the garbage corresponds to dry materials (glass, plastics, cardboard, paper) that can be recycled.“The idea is to remove inorganic waste from these locations and create a treatment plant for all of it in Simoca (four kilometers from the station).According to our calculations, the space could process up to 50.7 tons of MSW per day and employ a minimum of 30 people”, details the specialist, who received a mention for the most outstanding final project in Civil Engineering.In addition, the system includes urban collectors.Their work is usually done informally;which leads to the collection of material in inadequate sheds and its sale at very low prices.“In the initiative, we propose that the activity be formalized through the creation of cooperatives.Especially so that people can access benefits and the products are marketed at a fair amount”, he says.The last edge of the "Waste management in flood zones" initiative has to do with the means of transport to take the MSW to the plant.The novelty?Malsenido proposes to reactivate the railways.Never before have our cultural heritage and commitment to nature been so good friends.For the operation to work there are a lot of gears that need to be oiled.The first screw (or driver) is that the people of Tucuman minimally classify the garbage between inorganic or organic within their homes.This effort will allow the collection to be differentiated.Once the trucks search for the bags, the material is stored for later recycling.This is where rail infrastructure comes into play.“If we take advantage of the stations and their resources, we would save the money required to build sheds.At the time, we visited the railway workshops of Tafí Viejo and checked the condition of some hopper cars that fell into disuse when new units were acquired”, he indicates.To continue with the projections, the first step would be to condition the wagons and distribute them in the different communes or municipalities.They would become temporary warehouses.“Belgrano Cargas trains require completing a formation of 22 wagons to depart.In some instances that doesn't happen.So what would happen if we filled the remaining balance with hopper cars full of dry waste?”, Malsenido invites us to reflect.The option makes economic requirements as cheap as possible and promises greater speed than trucks or other means.