# Garbage services in Mexico



## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

The garbage issue was brought up in another thread, and I am curious what the situation is in other cities. 
At present I live on a main touristic street and have daily (intermittent) pickup and pay 4 pesos per container. 
Previously, in a better residential area I had twice weekly pickup. In the unpaved, godforsaken, outlying colonias and communities, pickup is usually once a week. 
Trash (large items) pickup is supposed to be once a month.
Many locals cannot afford the 4 pesos (without a receipt) per bag. Consequently on a clear day in the early morning, you can see 100's of smoke fingers reaching for the sky.
I believe it is illegal here to burn trash, but it is totally unenforced.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

dongringo said:


> The garbage issue was brought up in another thread, and I am curious what the situation is in other cities.
> At present I live on a main touristic street and have daily (intermittent) pickup and pay 4 pesos per container.
> Previously, in a better residential area I had twice weekly pickup. In the unpaved, godforsaken, outlying colonias and communities, pickup is usually once a week.
> Trash (large items) pickup is supposed to be once a month.
> ...


In Guadalajara Centro (it varies with the neighborhood), pickup is daily 6, maybe 7, days a week. You just leave it on the corner. You are supposed to separate it into organic, sanitary (bathroom tissue, etc) and other with different color bags for each; but it looks to me like it all goes in the same truck and, in fact, few if any separate. Tipping the garbage men (I have never seen a woman working that job) is occasional, since mostly people don't interact with them directly.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Here in Xalapa, the truck comes by 3 to 5 times a week. They ring a cow-bell and people come out of the houses with their bags of garbage. We leave the bags on the curb although some area have a specific place for the pickup.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

>>>> In the unpaved, godforsaken, outlying colonias and communities, 

I live in one of those and we have free service 6 days a week. Containers on the corner. Everything is garbage ... it gets separated at the dump. Burning here is usually yard waste. We built two bins of re-bar and chicken wire and placed them on the plaza for plastic. A local recycler empties them every couple weeks


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Garbage different in different Mexican Cities*



dongringo said:


> The garbage issue was brought up in another thread, and I am curious what the situation is in other cities.
> At present I live on a main touristic street and have daily (intermittent) pickup and pay 4 pesos per container.
> Previously, in a better residential area I had twice weekly pickup. In the unpaved, godforsaken, outlying colonias and communities, pickup is usually once a week.
> Trash (large items) pickup is supposed to be once a month.
> ...


Hi Dongringo;

Funny subject, but interesting to read all the differences here throughout Mexico.

First, I'd like to say garbage collection is never free - you might think it is because you don't pay a separate fee for it. It's included in the services that you get from your city for paying your "Predial"
Property Taxes each year.

Second, you'll see more often pick ups in Tropical Zones, as lingering garbage can cause disease as rotting occurs quick in Hot Tropical Zones.

Third. Seems to be a common theme including here in Tepic, that the further you get away from the City Plaza's the less frequent they pick up the garbage.

Here in Tepic, officially we have 6 day pick up with Sunday off. Oh, and you just put the garbage out in bags on the sidewalk right in front of your house. Interesting as on our street the garbage truck always comes down on Sunday too? We live in the "Colonial Hysterical", pun intended. I
think that is because the Politicians want to see their city as a clean city for tourists?

Next as you get away from down town they pick it up like only two days a week, and people have to take their garbage to the end of the street. They usually put it right in the middle of the street right before the intersection. That's where you can see the stray dogs gathering, and the mess as sometimes people run over it in order to make a turn into that street.

Can't put large items and construction debris out, as it will injure the blades that compact the garbage in the truck. For that and large tree limbs, old refrigerators you just call the city and they send a separate pick up truck within 4 hours and take it off your hands, right in front of your house where you've deposited it. No extra fee for that service.

I'm always amazed at the great service for such a pitance we have to pay in "Predial", Property Taxes. The pick up guys are running all the time during their shift. 

Once a year before Christmas time, the sanitation workers send their wifes around knocking on doors asking for donations for their Christmas Party for all the workers. We always tip generously.

Cuyler


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

I've had several apartments in Mexico City over the years. Generally, the trash truck arrives at some point in the day and one or more of the workers from the truck ring a "cow bell" to let the neighborhood know it's time to bring the garbage. People come scurrying out of their homes with their bags. In one complex where I lived, an unidad habitacional, there was a portero who, for a small gratuity, would pick-up your trash and make certain it was deposited at the garbage truck. I've always worked when I've lived in the city and most of the time it was more convenient to have the portero handle the trash for me. There are colonias, however, where people walk to a corner and pile the trash, bag upon bag. Sometimes the pile can get high and it sits there for a week before being collected. Wander out there at night and you'll encounter rats, enjoying the buffet. Nothing in life is free.


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## Belizegirl (Oct 21, 2010)

"Second, you'll see more often pick ups in Tropical Zones, as lingering garbage can cause disease as rotting occurs quick in Hot Tropical Zones."

Perhaps, that is why we have garbage pick up twice a days seven days a week.


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## michmex (Jul 15, 2012)

We have lived in 2 locations in Edomex during the last 6 years. One location had 5 pickups per week. Our current location has pickup 3 days per week. The basic fees are collected as part of the annual "predial". In both locations it was customary to tip 10 pesos per week. As in other locals a cowbell announces the arrival of the truck. Trash cans or bags are usually left in front of your residence in the morning. Trash is sorted by the men on the truck as they pick up. Sometime in the future we will be going to a more organized method for recycling of trash. Now its pretty much limited to the men sorting out glass, steel and aluminum cans, plastic bottles and cardboard. As we had in Michigan, larger items and appliances that could be re-used are picked up by local "recyclers" . Left out the night before, it usually disappears by the next afternoon.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We live in Chapala and there is daily pick-up 6 days per week, right in front of the house, at 7:30-8:00AM sharp. On holidays or busy weekends, there are additional pick-ups, especially in Centro. It is included in our annual taxes, but we often give the truck a 'Christmas envelope'.


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

In Playa Ventura they pick it up Saturday and Tuesday; we put it up on the road in front of our house. If we are around we give them a tip. 

I also see people burning things alot, but maybe it's mostly debris, although on the main road/highway that runs between towns (highway 200) there are a couple of places where they are definitely burning garbage, and another spot that is definitely a garbage dump.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

I live in Mexico City in an apartment building without a portero, so I need to be at home when I hear one of the "basureros" clanging the big bell. They come by every day except Sunday, usually in the early afternoon. Since I don't own property here, I don't pay property taxes, though I do pay rent to my landlord who does pay them. In my neighborhood, people rarely leave their bags of garbage and trash on the corner to be picked up when the garbage truck comes by. I once tried to do that, just when a police car was passing by. and was told in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to leave my "basura" on the street. Never did that again! They insist that we separate "orgánicos" (aka "garbage") from "inorgánicos" and provide a special can where we can deposit it. They do separate recyclables from the other kinds of trash right on the garbage vehicle itself.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> In my neighborhood, people rarely leave their bags of garbage and trash on the corner to be picked up when the garbage truck comes by. I once tried to do that, just when a police car was passing by. and was told in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to leave my "basura" on the street. Never did that again!


I was working in the afternoons when the garbage truck came and I was amassing a number of bags because I kept missing the truck. On the way to work one day, I dropped off three bags and got caught by the police. Apparently, they had some complaints and were in wait for violators. 50 peso fine, however, one of my co-workers lived next to the person who collected the fines. Got off with a 25 peso fine. Never did that again!


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## Heyduke (Jun 17, 2012)

In San Cristobal de las Casas we have a cowbell that lets you know it coming and its free or you can do what I do I load it up in my truck and haul it to the dump and dump it.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Not so different from rural USA. My inlaws have to get their garbage to the collection center on Saturday before 1 PM or wait another week, at their summer home in NW WI.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Not so different from rural USA. My inlaws have to get their garbage to the collection center on Saturday before 1 PM or wait another week, at their summer home in NW WI.


Does the garbage collection center have bears there at sunset?


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

AlanMexicali said:


> Does the garbage collection center have bears there at sunset?


Not having visited, I don't know. But they do tend to wander into the yard to see if they can get into the garden. So far, they haven't been able to. Father inlaw has had to get really creative to keep the raccoons out of the bird feeders, though.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Not having visited, I don't know. But they do tend to wander into the yard to see if they can get into the garden. So far, they haven't been able to. Father inlaw has had to get really creative to keep the raccoons out of the bird feeders, though.


In Manitoba the garbage dump near our cottage was a great place to say you and your girlfiend are going to and need the car because we wanted to watch the bears. In reality we just wanted to get away from the rest and make out a bit. It was usually full of teenages at sunset. The cubs are so cute.


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## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

AlanMexicali said:


> In Manitoba the garbage dump near our cottage was a great place to say you and your girlfiend are going to and need the car because we wanted to watch the bears. In reality we just wanted to get away from the rest and make out a bit. It was usually full of teenages at sunset. The cubs are so cute.


 So how do you keep a bear out of a garden? Bears seem to go where ever they desire to go as a rule.


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## Salto_jorge (Mar 28, 2010)

Zapopan: Our trash must be seperated and in different trash cans and placed on the curb. We also bag everything in the cans. The collectors ring a bell as they are coming down the street. 

If one leaves items (not trash) neatly on the curb recyclers typically pick it up.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

tepetapan said:


> So how do you keep a bear out of a garden? Bears seem to go where ever they desire to go as a rule.


With a fence that's 7 feet high, braced every three feet by very thick stakes. As a bonus, it also keeps out the deer, and they can't browse over the top of the fence.


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## stilltraveling (May 7, 2012)

Here in downtown Cuerna, they pick up the trash every day, even weekends. You just put it on the curb and it magically disappears.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

stilltraveling said:


> Here in downtown Cuerna, they pick up the trash every day, even weekends. You just put it on the curb and it magically disappears.


That sounds lovely. I don´t enjoy having to wait around my apartment for the _basureros_ to show up, so I can get rid of my smelly garbage. Is this fabulous service available in all of Cuernavaca or only in the area where you live?


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

stilltraveling said:


> Here in downtown Cuerna, they pick up the trash every day, even weekends. You just put it on the curb and it magically disappears.


It works the same way in central La Paz, although collection is only twice a week. Many people have built-in or stand-alone containers to keep stray animals out of the garbage while it's awaiting pickup.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

makaloco said:


> It works the same way in central La Paz, although collection is only twice a week. Many people have built-in or stand-alone containers to keep stray animals out of the garbage while it's awaiting pickup.


Mexicali: every Tues. and Fri. very early morning. The dogs make a mess and the yard dogs bark when the strays are eating, keeps me awake sometimes. We simply wait untill the noise of the truck is heard and take it to them or leave it outside the wrought iron style steel fences and clean up the mess later that the dogs left. Not too bad as us neighbors chat while doing it on occation.


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## stilltraveling (May 7, 2012)

Isla Verde said:


> That sounds lovely. I don´t enjoy having to wait around my apartment for the _basureros_ to show up, so I can get rid of my smelly garbage. Is this fabulous service available in all of Cuernavaca or only in the area where you live?


I think it's only downtown. When you get into population densities this thick, you have to pick up the garbage every day or the place would be overrun by rats.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

stilltraveling said:


> I think it's only downtown. When you get into population densities this thick, you have to pick up the garbage every day or the place would be overrun by rats.


Where I live, the population density is pretty thick too and we have pickups every day of the week except for Sunday, but we can't leave our bags on the sidewalk to be picked up.


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## adamathefrog (Dec 4, 2010)

In Merida's colonias it's twice a week, apparently.


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