Reuse > Recycle and other misc recycling.

Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca

The reuse economy still holds strong in many parts of Mexico, like any other country with developing economies and income disparities. Reuse and repair trump recycling any day. Many folks make a living repairing things from washing machines to shoes to cars in Mexico.

Not necessarily a repair situation here but I thought this backyard or in-house mini anaerobic digestor was interesting. The store owner said you could use the fuel to cook. I would love to see more innovation in this space, especially in rural areas were you have to truck out tank after tank of cooking fuel. 

You think that stroller is creepy, you should have seen the junk yard dog behind the computer towers. Some sketchy e-waste recycling going on at this warehouse.  

Collected and bagged idling PET. A common sight at places along the coast where organization will collect the thousands of littered water and soda bottles. This all looks good to the tourist but these bottles will idle for a very long time and eventually be landfilled or worse, re-littered and end up in the ocean. As no one can economically get this material to market, it will not happen. 

Some Mexican Landfills

Outside of Oaxaca City. You pass dozens of recycling buyers on the route to this landfill. 

If you look closely, you can see workers with super sacks sorting out PET, Metal, HDPE and OCC. This is a common sight all over Latin America and the world. People working in horrible conditions and living on or near the landfill. I would assume this landfill is emitting a horrendous amount of methane. It is clearly not capturing any of it for energy use or flaring. 

Just a little lechate leak.  

This landfill is one of 5 huge landfills outside of Mexico City. Really hard to tell how big this is, but if you look closely you can see tiny long haul transfer trucks dumping waste. This landfill was just dug right into the side of a mountain. 

A lot more to cover on Mexico City's new transfer station system. I was unable to get a picture of one of the reload trucks so I'll have to make a trip back to cover that. Long story short, collection trucks gather and dump waste at the transfer stations on the outskirts of town where material is loaded onto long haul tractor trailers and taken to landfill. A relatively new development in Mexico City from my understanding. 

Metals yard outside Oaxaca

Metals comes in from metal scrappers and from the garbage trucks who have separated it out and are selling it on the way to the landfill. 

In the bigger cities like Mexico City and Puebla there are of course very large scrap yards. Here in the outskirts of Oaxaca City, folks make do with mini-balers and manual labor to run the yard.

When you don't have a shredder, you have to play Tetris with you long hauling to maximize the weight and space of your load. 

Collecting garbage, separating recycling and selling it on the way to the Transfer Station or Landfill

Roma Norte, Mexico City

Municipal garbage collectors sort recycling behind their truck. They attach the bags and super sacks of aluminum, PET, HDPE, mixed rigids, and paper to anywhere they can on the truck. No separate recycling trucks in Mexico. "Run what you brung" (using the resources you have) 

Oaxaca City, Oaxaca Mexico

The industrious gentlemen who owned this PET and OCC recycling facility on the outskirts of Oaxaca would not let me take photos but he had quite and impressive operation. Horizontal baler with a conveyor and a Plastics sort line with a conveyor. He had about 10 people working for him. The most technology I've yet to see in a my travels.

 A scrap metals yard. Also on the outskirts of Oaxaca, on the route to the landfill. 

Farther down the road on the way to the landfill. Dozens of garbage trucks are parked by the dozens of recycling buyers. The trucks sell their material to the highest bidder, or family members who own the buying facilities. These facilities range in size and infrastructure. The one pictured here was small and had no technology. Buyers would combine like materials and sell them to the bigger buyers with balers who would then ship and market materials. 

Centro Ecologico, Mexico CIty

Centro Ecologico

The Roma Norte Barrio in Mexico City. In my opinion, what a fantastic model. I wish every city in the world had a place like this. Everyone from the recycling collector who lives on the street to apartment dwelling middle class citizens were selling their magazines, newspapers and assorted metals. This model gives the customer the incentive to recycle clean, source separated materials. Even if you are not making much money out of this, who wouldn't sell the magazines they've accumulated at the Centro Ecologico if you lived in the neighborhood? Do it on the way to the store, etc.... Fantastic model here. 

 Papel.........Paper

Metal....Metal