Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – Despite being smaller in size, Puerto Vallarta surprisingly outpaces larger cities like Guadalajara, Monterrey, and the Valley of Mexico in terms of garbage production per inhabitant.
In the latest IMCO Urban Competitiveness Index on Solid Waste, published at the end of 2022, Puerto Vallarta shockingly ranks 65 out of 66 evaluated locations, with the highest number representing the larger producers of solid waste.
This rank signifies that Puerto Vallarta is the second-highest generator of solid waste, producing an average of 1.57 kilograms per person each day. This figure surpasses the average waste generation of all the analyzed cities by 0.5 percent.
Cities in this study are grouped based on their population. Puerto Vallarta finds itself classified with 19 other locations that have populations ranging between 250,000 and 500,000. However, the ranking includes all cities, regardless of population size.
Ivania Mazari, IMCO’s Evaluation and Analysis coordinator, explains that aggregating the indicators offers a swift perspective on the relative performance of each city, good or bad.
Interestingly, inhabitants of Puerto Vallarta generate more waste than those residing in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City – cities that boast populations exceeding one million. These cities occupy the 37th, 41st, and 55th positions, respectively.
On the other hand, among cities of a comparable size to Vallarta, Cárdenas, Tabasco leads in waste management, as its residents only generate 0.28 kilograms of waste per person. However, Tepic, Nayarit, despite being in the category of cities with populations between 500,000 and one million, occupies the last position, meaning generating the most waste, producing 1.64 kilograms of waste per person per day.
Puerto Vallarta’s Public Services director, José Ascención Gil Calleja, attributed the city’s waste problem to its thriving tourism industry. He noted, “The significant influx of tourists contributes to the generation of waste, potentially inflating the estimate of the indicator.”
It should be noted that that excuse doesn’t hold water because Mexico City receives more tourists annually than Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta outpaces every other city in solid waste than any destination that ranks higher in tourism, showing the work that needs to be done in educating residents on waste management and creating solutions for more sustainable tourism.
Based on last year’s data, Gil Calleja disclosed that Vallarta produces an average of 14,913 tons of solid waste monthly, barring holiday periods. Furthermore, in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, municipal authorities reported that during peak holiday weeks such as Holy Week and Easter, the city collected up to 600 tons of waste daily. This amount represented a 60% increase from non-holiday periods.
Here’s a brief rundown of the waste generation per person, per day, in some of the cities:
- Cárdenas, Tabasco (0.28 kg)
- Guadalajara, Jalisco (0.89 kg)
- Monterrey, Nuevo León (0.92 kg)
- Valley of Mexico (1.13 kg)
- Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (1.57 kg)
- Tepic, Nayarit (1.64 kg)
(Source: IMCO)
