Mexico City closes world’s largest trash dump
December 20th, 2011 - 12:26 pm ICT by IANSMexico City, Dec 20 (IANS/EFE) Authorities in the Mexican capital said Monday that concerns about pollution of the air and nearby underground aquifers led them to close a municipal trash dump described as the largest in the world.
The closure of the Bordo Poniente dump is “a relevant advance for Mexico City” and will contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2 million tonnes, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said.
Opened 26 years ago, Bordo Poniente receives an average of 12,600 tonnes per day of garbage and accounts for 1.5 percent of Mexico’s total emissions of greenhouse gases.
Municipal officials embarked in 2008 on a plan to reduce the amount of trash consigned to the dump, in part by diverting organic refuse to composting, while non-organic garbage is sifted for material that can be used to generate energy for manufacturing, Ebrard said.
Development work is to begin next year on equipment to capture biogas for electricity generation, the mayor said.
The Mexico City municipal government has benefited to the tune of $500,000 under a 2006 accord with the Spanish Carbon Fund to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 34,500 tonnes a year.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: authorities, biogas, carbon dioxide emissions, closure, efe, electricity generation, greenhouse gases, marcelo ebrard, mexico city, municipal government, municipal officials, organic garbage, pollution, trash dump, underground aquifers