Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, August 9, 2026 – Puerto Vallarta has returned 94 unionized municipal employees to garbage collection and hired 50 additional workers as City Hall rebuilds the crews needed to operate routes across three daily shifts, according to the union representing city workers.
Lucía Edith Curiel Peña, secretary general of the union representing municipal employees, said the 94 permanent workers had remained on the city payroll after garbage collection was transferred to Red Ambiental. They were reassigned to other municipal departments during the private concession.
Those employees are now back in Aseo Público as drivers, collectors, trailer operators and heavy-equipment operators. Curiel said their assignments include collection in neighborhoods, rural communities and the federal zone.
The staffing increase represents 144 workers who have returned to or been newly added to the collection operation. The total includes 94 existing municipal employees rather than 144 new positions. Curiel said the 50 new hires were brought in to cover scheduled days off and keep routes staffed through three daily shifts.
Some returning employees also moved into higher-ranked positions based on seniority and work history. Collectors filled vacancies as drivers and operators of trailers or landfill machinery under agreements reached between the union and municipal government.
The personnel changes complete another part of the transition that began when Puerto Vallarta took direct control of garbage collection on April 1. Red Ambiental’s concession had been approved for a 15-year term but ended after approximately 15 months due to payment disputes and repeated complaints about the collection service.
Equipment has been another part of the rebuilding process. The city’s 2026 procurement register lists a process to lease 26 compacting garbage trucks used in municipal solid-waste collection. Curiel said the leased vehicles helped complete the fleet needed to cover the expanded operation.
Staffing and equipment demands increased again under the route schedule introduced July 15. Collection is divided among morning, afternoon and night shifts. The tourist corridor and neighborhoods with heavier waste volumes receive daily service, while lower-volume areas are assigned pickup four days each week.
The new system followed months of uneven service. Puerto Vallarta suspended neighborhood collection on June 19 while maintaining service along the tourist corridor. Earlier that month, missed routes and accumulating garbage prompted complaints in several neighborhoods.
Curiel said collection trucks are taking waste to the El Gavilán landfill, where heavy machinery is being used to rehabilitate areas affected by earlier fires and restore disposal capacity.
Residents can review the current neighborhood-by-neighborhood collection schedule to confirm assigned days and whether pickup is scheduled during the morning or night shift.
