In 2006 the Ley de Basura Cero (Zero Rubbish Law) passed Congress in Argentina, stating that the amount of garbage for the entire country should decrease by 30% before 2010. The reality is that nowadays more than 5,000 tonnes of waste are removed each day from the capital and put straight into landfills, leaving the 30% rubbish decrease unrealised.

So what do porteños know about this? Are they aware of the Ley de Basura Cero and do they know where their trash finally goes? How clean is Buenos Aires in their opinion and what do they think of the collection of garbage around the city?

Lucila Herreda, 19, medical student, Microcentro

I think Buenos Aires is in general a very dirty city; when I am just walking through a random street in the city I see waste or any other form of pollution everywhere. Of course it depends in which area of the city you are, but in general I perceive it as quite dirty. Our government is not doing a lot to combat this and it seems like in some parts of the city they do not clean at all! I know that some poorer parts of the city look terrible and waste just gets dumped in their backyard. But honestly, I can not say a lot about this since I rarely come to these areas of town. But what I strongly believe is that we, people of Buenos Aires, should do our part to keep the city clean; right now, we are not aware enough and produce a lot of waste by ourselves. If everyone would pay some more attention to keeping our city clean and be more aware of that, we can decrease the problem, although little by little.

Marta Estevez, 77, dressmaker, Caballito

I do not perceive our  city as clean, but neither as dirty. In general I do think it is much more cleaner outside Buenos Aires, in the province, than here. For example Mendoza, I see that as such a clean city; when you are there it seems you are in an entirely different country. In my opinion this has mainly to do with manners and education. Since there are no punishments or anything – nothing will happen if you just throw your garbage on the ground – people keep doing it. It is the fault of the people, nobody cares! That is the thing we should change; our own behaviour. I have the feeling that people outside the city are more aware of this and better educated. The government should stimulate this and in this manner help to keep the city clean.

Damian Oliver, 42, musician, Villa Crespo

When I only have a look in the streets of Buenos Aires I perceive it as a very dirty city. People should learn and be educated in how to deal with their garbage instead of throwing everything on the ground. Our government does not care about next to the fact the national and city government never agree about it; Macri [Buenos Aires city mayor, Mauricio Macri] is a person who is not paying any attention  to this matter and in general it looks like for him, the total southern part of the city does not exist. I do not think the way garbage is collected in the city has a lot to do with the pollution in the city – since I think that is generally good – main problems are caused because it finally often got dumped in the province; so many discussions between national and city government come up which I think is the main reason of the pollution problems.

Cristian Argañaraz, 29, electrician, Caballito

In general I think the rubbish collection in our city is good; people get paid well and I think they are doing a great job. Though; I think Buenos Aires is a very dirty city which is mainly caused by ourselves. We should be more aware of it and the government should educate us, also in things as separate our garbage for example. Especially Macrí; he does not have a national goal in mind and no intentions to do something with this pollution of the city; it looks like he does not even see it! Besides, the national and city government never get to an agreement concerning rules of rubbish collection. Have a look at the southern part of the city; terrible the situation over there; it looks like a complete different city! Not only because the government pays hardly any attention to keep the southern parts of the city clean, but also because of a complete different family culture and habits over there. People are even less educated in thing concerning hygiene and environment. Concerning the responsibility of the government in the southern parts of town; I do not know when or if this will ever change, anyways under the head of Macrí definitely not; for him this part does not have the name ‘Buenos Aires’.

Javier Mason, 38, teacher, Caballito

In general I think Buenos Aires is quite a dirty city, but I think this is inevitable in a big city. Besides it highly depends of the area your are in, for example the situation in the southern parts of the city; terrible. Main reason of it is that people who are living there are less consciousness about environment and way to keep the city clean; apart from the fact that the government acts like this part of town not exist and does not pay any attention to keep it clean. In contrary, rubbish got often dumped there, which is not only rubbish we are producing, but even more rubbish from the big industries. I think that these industries are a key factor concerning the city’s pollution. Also the government should pay more attention to it; for example the Riachuelo river, a complete disaster!