Medellín wants city dump to become a "showcase" recycling site

The Medellín municipality is to turn the La Pradera trash dump, some 50 kilometers outside the city, into a "technologial and environmental park" set to recycle "about 40%" of the department of Antioquia's solid refuse into products including fuel and compost. The project was to become a model of recycling and reuse for both Colombia and the continent, the city's mayor, Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga, was quoted as saying on 18 September. He said this recycling project should prolong the site's useful life, allow it to receive 3,500 tons or 80% of the department's entire trash every day, but also establish a new model of disposing of refuse. The timespan for the project was not yet clear though the mayor suggested the site might be producing biogas for some 200,000 homes in the department by around 2027. The city government has in recent months sought to teach residents to separate household trash, by means including door-to-door visits and recitals to accompany garbage collection.