Colombia has doubled the amount of waste it generated at the end of the nineties. In less than 20 years, the country, through its constant push for ‘development’ based on exploitation of natural resources and with the increasing entrance of international products, has created a future scenario that is worrying in terms of waste management. Very poor environmental education and cultural difficulties in passing from law to reality have turned the entire country and its landfills into time bombs. In such terms, dealing with this issue is a learning-while-doing process that cannot be ignored. This paper addresses two groups of people involved in the waste management of Ibagué: the retrievers, and the generators, of the waste. This study summarizes a human-centered design approach to the issue with a focus on the retrievers as an essential actor of the waste management chain in the city, and is based on a case study developed in one of the main suburbs of Ibagué. Their labor conditions, their social needs and the perspective they have of waste were the main resources for developing five design criteria to be considered when designing a waste retrieval service for Ibagué.