How’s that trash separation thing working for you? If you’re struggling to figure out how to categorize your refuse, bundle it up and put it out on the curb for pick up, don’t fret. You can count yourself among the vast majority of lakeside’s populace.
According to Chapala Public Sanitation Director Carlos Diaz only 20 percent of local households have taken to the new program during the first two weeks of implementation. And he acknowledges that for the time being trash collectors on his staff aren’t exactly adhering to the publicized pick-up schedule.
What the garbage men are doing, he explained this week, is retrieve everything that’s deposited along their established routes on any given day. But since they are following instructions to sort wastes as they go, their work can be slowed down measurably when the refuse isn’t put out according to classification as organic, recyclable inorganic or sanitary/non-recyclable material.
“Chapala is essentially a tourist destination, so even if the public isn’t fully cooperating yet, we’re not at liberty to just leave garbage out on the streets,” Diaz said.
Residents may have noticed that city garbage trucks are now equipped with giant canvas bags that are used to store marketable materials such as PET plastics, milk jugs and aluminum cans. Cardboard cartons and other paper goods apt for recycling are also stored separately.
Diaz pointed out that garbage collectors are already accustomed to a rather informal process of culling recyclable materials, which reduced the load of trash delivered to the GEN solid waste disposal facility in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos by approximately 1,500 tons in 2011. That in turn saved the city around 450,000 pesos in payments for the company’s services.
He noted that the categorized collection schedule will be phased in as residents get a better grasp on separation practices. Meanwhile, regular Thursday pickup of garden waste in central Ajijic will continue as usual.
The city’s Ecology Department chief Billy Kevin Rivera is optimistic that residents will eventually catch on to waste separation. “The concept is familiar to foreign residents and we know that most are willing and anxious to collaborate. We expect it will take a while for local people to learn a new way of managing their trash and understand the benefits,” he remarked.
He anticipated that the system will run more smoothly and translate into significant financial and environmental pluses once Chapala begins operating its own waste transfer and processing facility.
The plant is being developed on the outskirts of Santa Cruz de la Soledad. Progress has been excruciating slow, Rivera said, due to a lack of sufficient government financing. However, once it is finally up and running, the city will have the capacity to retrieve and sell marketable materials and convert huge amounts of organic waste into compost.
In fielding questions from the press this week, Mayor Jesus Cabrera stated that the launch of the trash separation scheme was a condition for the recent acquisition of new garbage trucks given to Chapala and other lakeshore communities by the inter-municipal environment association Aipromades. “We could lose the trucks and other economic benefits if we fail to comply,” he said.