Last week the government of the province of Buenos Aires introduced a bill that, if passed, will stop Capital Federal’s rubbish from being dumped in the province by January 2014. For decades the city’s rubbish has been going to landfills in the province, so now that the city might have to deal with its own rubbish, what will happen?
On top of this CEAMSE, the publicly-owned company which handles the city’s waste management, has announced it will be raising its prices by 35% as of June this year. All in all, the city has a big pile of rubbish on its hands, which if both changes go forward, will be an expensive problem too.
Allendria Brunjes investigates the details behind the new bill preventing rubbish being transported out of its original jurisdiction, while looking at the state of Federal Capital’s rubbish management in general. The Indy headed to the streets to see what the residents of Buenos Aires thought about the city’s rubbish and what should be done with it.
Juan Cruz, 27, Almagro, Employer
I believe the rubbish should be discarded in the province rather than the city, because the province does not have the physical limitations that the city has. The city does not have enough space to store or bury the rubbish. Needless to say, when the city dumps rubbish, it tries to make sure the rubbish is handled properly, and not form open pit rubbish dumps, or create pollutants.
Ariel Vrangican, 32, Playa Blanca, Tourism Worker
They should have a spot where recycling and rubbish is put and dealt with – either a particular place, or a machine that gets rid of the rubbish and not just leave it. The capital’s rubbish matters and they must sort it out. Macri must tell the province that he is planning on dumping the rubbish there, and make sure there is some agreement in place. If he hasn’t done this, then I think it’s a problem, but if there is an agreement in place, then I think it’s fine. I think that if there is a plan in place, it should incorporate the opinion of all the people from the province.
Marica Sabbatini, 29, San Telmo, Artist
I think the topic of where to store rubbish is quite a complicated issue. In order to dump refuse waste, space is needed. It would be good to try and find a place in Capital Federal so to not compromise the relationship between capital’s government and the provincial government. If no place within the city can be found, Macri will have to negotiate with the provincial government to find a solution.
Maria Isabel Flores, 58, Belgrano, Ballerina
I think they should industrialise the city’s rubbish. I also think that the organic waste should be separated from what is not organic, and then the volume of waste would not be so big. Once this separation has been made, the organic waste is biodegradable, making the problem of where to put it much smaller. After this the city will just have to think about the other waste. I think that more focus should be put on recycling. In regards to where the waste should be put, I think that the production and separation of the rubbish would filter out a lot a recycling and be kept in recycling plants. After that, I don’t really know.
Alex Burin, 24, Villa Crespo, Student
The state of the rubbish in the city is disgusting. If it weren’t for the cartoneros there would be no recycling, which although is a good source of income for them, is a terrible reflection on our government’s system. I don’t know if there is enough space for the government to dump the rubbish in Capital Federal, so the only solution might be to put it elsewhere. If the government were more efficient about the way they collect rubbish, maybe there wouldn’t be as much of it. The main issue for me is the recycling and that money and effort should be put into bringing the city up to the standards of others.
