Although the Chapala government has not figured out how it will comply with state regulations on solid waste separation that will take effect in September, entrepreneurs have gotten ahead of the ball with budding recycling operations.

Despite Chapala Mayor Gerardo Degollado’s campaign promises to solve the municipality’s long-standing waste management problems – ranging from antiquated and inefficient trash collection services to the lack of a local landfill facility – his administration has arrived at the half-way point of its three-year term with no coherent strategy for handling the 60 to 100 tons of trash the community generates every day.

City hall officials spoke this week of reviving a faltered plan to turn garbage pickup and disposal over to private contractors, but prospects for making that happen in the near future appear slim. Key  officers contacted by the Guadalajara Reporter were unable to outline any tactics for dealing with waste separation. 

Dulce Maria Garcia, a spokesperson for Jalisco’s environment ministry, told this newspaper that the agency is prepared to help the local government meet its obligations and ensure the compliance of local residents and businesses. All will be required to bag up trash according to three basic color classifications: green for organic matter, blue for inorganic materials and orange for sanitary and toxic wastes.

Over the coming weeks the Reporter will profile various private operators who have broken into the recycling field. Among the most successful businessmen identified to date is Julio Cesar Michel who opened a family-operated wholesale-retail metal collection and resale center in Chapala in August of last year.

“The business is growing and already turning profits,” Michel said in a recent interview. “I have clients coming to me from all around the area,” he says, noting that money – rather than concern for the environment – seems to be the overriding motivation for most recyclers.

“Even middle-class housewives are catching on to the idea of turning their trash into spare cash. They pull up in their Windstar minivans to trade empty pop and beer cans for some extra pesos to take their kids to the movies.”

Compra Venta de Metales y Chatarra Michel  buys all types of separated metal refuse, as well as used car batteries. Promising accurate weighing with a precision digital scale and top rates, the outfit’s propietor pays as much as 58 pesos per kilo for used copper, with lower rates for bronze, steel, aluminium, sheet metal and junk items. The business is located at Avenida Hidalgo 299, on the north side of the street one block east of the Hotel Montecarlo, telephone 765-4258. Business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.