Luis Engel
One big obstacle Victoria de Durango in Mexico faces today is waste management. Its impact should not be underestimated, as inadequate ways to solve this problem are often very harmful for the environment and humans’ health. The municipality of Durango admits that it faces challenges with large volumes of waste due to a lack of efficient facilities and infrastructure for waste management. While the city has made efforts regarding the goals of separation waste and now has different categories which are “single stream mixed recycling”, “glass” and “electronics and batteries” it doesn’t seem to work perfectly fine. Waste often ends up in unregulated landfills, which has a great impact on the environment, because it directly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions through the generation of methane from the decay of waste in landfills. While this is not good for the environment the process can also be used to generate energy. But what has to be done for that? What can Durango change in its waste management to become a more liveable and sustainable city till 2050?
The whole process starts at home with looking at what should be bought and obviously we want to avoid buying plastic products or packaging as it is pretty hard to recycle. After using the products, the trash must be separated in different categories obviously the once above, but it is also important to distinguish between recycling trash for example packaging and organic waste product such as rests of food, etc. But of course, the civilians in this case are also dependent on the infrastructure and thus the government, if the people are separating the waste but then it gets mixed up afterwards anyway it doesn’t make sense. Next, the waste is brought with preferably electric transporters (look at transportation section) to different stations. Paper, glass, and plastic are recycled and reused; I am sure the technology will develop till 2050. Recycling spares resources, of course it also needs energy, but it is an important step into a more sustainable future. On that note, it is important to mention that recycling and reusing can and should already happen before the products are thrown away. With the organic waste and the Restmüll (all the trash which can’t be categorized into the one mentioned above) energy can be produced. While biomass disintegrates it emits methane, a gas with which a turbine can be driven which then produces energy. This source of energy is seen as carbon neutral as the CO2 emitted in the process was beforehand taken out of the atmosphere from the plants. Also, the end product can be used as fertilizer. Regarding the Restmüll, the process is similar, here the waste is burned and through the warm air a turbine is powered, creating energy.
In fact, such a concept for Durango is pretty realistic. But as so often it starts with the people themselves saving the planet, in this case by separating their individual waste. And through the process, the city even gains energy and can fertilize agricultural fields in the region. There is nothing more for me to say than to wish you a nice day and to count on your recycling as well as sorting skills.
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