Two new garbage trucks recently acquired by the Chapala municipal government may bring about minor improvements in the current irregularity of pick-up services, but there are no signs that big changes in solid waste management will come any time soon.
The City Star model International trucks were selected for their compact size to make driving on the community’s narrowest streets easier, according to Mayor Javier Degollado. They were purchased on credit through a deal arranged with a company in Toluca, Estado de Mexico, with the 800,000-peso per unit cost to be paid off in four monthly installments.
Each vehicle is equipped with a compactor to reduce the volume of trash, making their holding capacity roughly equivalent to that of the largest trucks already in use. The mayor says these features can be used to begin selective collection of recyclable materials such as plastic, metal, paper and glass.
However, directors of the Sanitation and Ecology departments stress they are not ready to launch a trash separation program, nor a public awareness campaign to encourage citizen cooperation.
As soon as the new trucks rolled out two weeks ago, garbage collectors rigged them up with giant sacks and thus maintain their informal recycling method of fishing valuable stuff from trash containers and bags left at curbside
Sanitation chief Juan Cuevas hopes to revamp collection routes by the end of the year. He admits that the new trucks are only marginally helpful in resolving the day-to-day challenges of operating with a debilitated garbage fleet. He has just seven other aging vehicles at his disposal to make the rounds for collecting 60 to 70 tons of waste on an average day, and over 100 tons on holidays.
The mayor anticipates purchasing eight more garbage trucks before his term ends two years hence. That will likely be too little, and far too late to implement an efficient and environmentally sound management system.