Tijuana’s landfill not using ‘best environmental practices’

Garbage collectors work at a landfill on the outskirts of the Mexican capital. Photo: Jacky Muniello/dpa (Photo by Jacky Muniello/picture alliance via Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The people who operate Tijuana’s landfill are being accused of not maximizing the facility’s potential nor are they protecting the environment.

“They don’t manage the methane gas, they don’t use it as a source of energy,” said Adrián Valdez Barrera, sustainability coordinator with Cetys University. “They don’t separate recyclables from trash as they are supposed to”

Valdez Barrera insists the landfill is not adhering to “best environmental practices” and he blames the city for letting it operate under such conditions.

“The city is failing to enforce its own agreement with landfill operators,” he said.” The city is also not collecting trash in 10 percent of the neighborhoods.”

Valdez Barrera worries this is also damaging the environment.

“Now people are forced to burn their trash or dump it down a canyon or on an empty lot. Residents don’t want to throw away their waste, it’s just they don’t have a way for proper disposal.”

These environmental issues are prevalent throughout Mexico according to Valdez Barrera.

“There are so many places in Mexico where our governments don’t have the capacity to pick up the trash,” he said. “When it rains in many places, the trash ends up getting washed down a stream, here in Tijuana it goes into the Tijuana River and all the way down into the ocean and then we have an outcry from communities like Imperial Beach north of the border.”

And the lack of recycling programs needs to be addressed says Valdez Barrera.

“We have no recycling centers in urban areas where people could drop off their materials voluntarily, we could easily set up a network of recycling centers — the only ones available now are outside the city and hard to get to.”