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With a need for quality soil products and increased landfill diversion, a new administration takes steps to boost compost production.
UNTIL recently, organics recycling seemed to be a forgotten part of the solution for Mexico City's increasing volumes of solid waste and saturated landfills. Three material recovery facilities (MRFs) recycle some valuable nonorganics, but in Mexico City, like almost every Latin American city, more than half of the solid waste stream consists of biodegradable organics that end up in a landfill. However, trends indicate a new approach is changing this scenario.
One of the world's largest metropolitan areas with a population of 12 million, Mexico City is a place of urban and economic contrasts. The square Spanish plazas, colonial buildings and narrow streets of the historical center are surrounded by modern developments and belts of densely populated poor areas. Due to uncontrolled and rapid urbanization, the metropolitan area now encompasses the neighboring municipalities of the Estado de Mexico, forming a megalopolis of more than 20 million people.
Operated politically as a Federal District, the city generates 11,200 tons/day of solid waste, which are disposed in two landfills. The city government has the overall responsibility for management of the disposal facilities, while the collection service is the responsibility of 16 delegaciones or municipalities. Although the delegaciones are legally autonomous, they depend on central administration offices like the Direccion General de Servicios Urbanos for main street sweepings and on private contractors for some industrial and commercial waste collection. The composition of the waste flow varies greatly from place to place, depending mainly on income and type of businesses.
Recovery infrastructure
Due to the great potential for recycling, there already are many avenues of recovery - from collection trucks to transfer stations and MRFs. For instance, 74 percent of national cardboard and paper production comes from recycled materials. Organics recovery also is a very important...