Autumn 2017 EN

English Issue
Biogas Journal
| Autumn_2017
Waste collection
in Mexico City.
“That would, of course, be efficient and cost-effective,
but there isn’t a functioning waste separation system
in Mexico”.
Alvaro Zurita and Esteban Salinas, who are working
on the project “Using municipal waste to generate energy”
for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) affirm that the separation of organic
waste is a hurdle that can be overcome. The only
Generator container of Ylem Energy with two Caterpillar generators
that feed a total capacity of 2.4 megawatts into the network.
Garbage collectors search
though the waste to find
usable items.
biogas plant at a landfill so far has had technical problems
due to waste that was insufficiently or unsuitably
prepared. The Secretariat of Environment and Natural
Resources of Mexico financed the plant in Atlacumulco
in the state of Mexico.
In many communities in Mexico, waste disposal is
organized by a complex, confusing web of public and
private stakeholders. The garbage trucks and their drivers
are provided by the communities. The crews on the
trucks are private, self-employed people, who also sort
out and sell the recyclable waste. Their jobs are in demand
and are quietly assigned by the drivers. The drivers,
however, are organized in strong unions.
Many collectors who go door to door to homes and businesses
on their own with sacks on their backs also make
a living from recyclable items. One look at the surprisingly
clean streets of Mexico City demonstrates that
the system works somehow. However, the system is so
influenced by individual interests that it is difficult to
change anything. Moreover, the extremely low landfill
fees hinder investment on the part of landfill operators.
Taking care of waste management in Xalapa
In cooperation with the Secretariats of Energy and of
Environment and Natural Resources, the GIZ is attempting
to advance the use of waste to generate energy
at various levels. For example, Zurita and Salinas are
currently consulting on a project in Xalapa in the state
Veracruz, where the Inter-American Development Bank
is financing a waste fermentation plant at a landfill.
“Here, above all, we have to deal with waste management”,
says Esteban Salinas.
A lot in Mexico is in flux; some things are moving in
the right direction: the structuring of energy reform, for
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