Coping with Dirty Microenterprises in Developing Countries

Sizable cities in developing countries typically host thousands of small manufacturers engaged in pollution-intensive activities such as leather tanning, metalworking, ceramics, textiles, and food processing. Collectively, these firms, which are often located in poor, densely populated neighborhoods, can have devastating environmental impacts. Nevertheless, pollution control efforts in developing countries have generally focused on large industrial sources. This bias stems in part from an enduring misperception that small-scale sources are relatively unimportant. It also is a matter of practicality— small firms are difficult to regulate by conventional means. Numerous, cash-strapped, and frequently unlicensed, they are often hard for regulators to identify, much less monitor and sanction. Yet recent RFF case studies of small-scale brick kilns and leather tanneries in Mexico demonstrate not only that cutting small manufacturers’ pollution yields large benefits, but also that the barriers to pollution control are far from insurmountable. Policymakers have at their disposal a number of cost-effective and practical—if unconventional—pollution control strategies. Brick Kilns in Ciudad Juárez