Rats "freely roam" Mexico City's prestige avenue

Rats recently became an unwelcome sight on Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma, the emblematic avenue hosting corporate offices and prestige hotels and flats. In parts of the avenue notably outside the Four Seasons Hotel by the Chapultepec park, this was blamed on unspecified locals leaving food on the pavement or stuck on trees, supposedly for the birds and squirrels, El Sol de México reported on 7 February. "That's what the rats eat," a local resident told the daily. Pockets of greenery, scarce and overflowing bins and the abundance of fast-food chains and eateries were other factors making this a desirable area for the critters. Another paper, Milenio, observed on their strolling about "in full daylight."

Bogotá begins year clearing tonnes of curbside trash..

The Bogotá municipality cleared over 9,100 tonnes of trash, mostly building material, heavy items or broken furniture left on pavements through January 2026, or some 300 tonnes of débris dumped outside every day, the broadcaster Radio Santa Fe reported on 5 February. Over 2,200 tonnes of similar refuse and 500 tyres were separately cleared in the first week of February, the broadcaster reported on 8 February. This was almost as much as the 13,000 tonnes of refuse people deposited with mobile Ecopoints or municipal collection vans (Ecopuntos móviles, run by the UAESP or Special Administrative Unit for Public Services) throughout 2025. The city's 211 collection vans move around with advance notice so people will dispose of unwanted items correctly and prevent the city's notorious trash piles.

Mexico City publishes its waste bartering calendar

The Mexican capital published provisional dates in 2026 and venues for its trash-for-goods or swap markets where locals bring in recyclable items to receive food or household products. The city was keener to receive PET plastics, paper and cardboard and glass, all cleaned out, for which it would offer items including fresh produce, the daily Excelsior reported on 2 January. The first event was to be in the Bosque de San Juan park near the aiport on 11 January, and residents were asked to take between one and 10 kilograms of recyclables strictly.

Mexico City residents "ignoring" trash separation rules..

Trash collectors in parts of Mexico City said on 3 January that city residents were slow or reluctant to comply with new trash separation rules meant to ease recycling and reduce the amount of trash sent into the city's dumps. The new rules came into force in 2026. One truck driver told El Sol de Mexico that judging by the unseparated trash he was collecting in the central Doctores district and additional trash illegally left on pavements, nothing had changed. This was in spite of the city's information campaigns to explain the concept of separation. For now, trash collectors had to work extra as garbage trucks were not being let into processing plants (Estaciones de transferencia) with unseparated trash. Sandra Gazca, a spokeswoman for the Vida Circular (Circular Life) information initiative told the daily however that a 2025 study indicated that 52% of city residents did recycle trash. Legislation to enforce separation began in 2004, with a second city law in 2017 to define the concepts of organic, inorganic and recyclable, the daily reported.

Christmas brings more trash to Mexico City...

The mayoress of Mexico City urged Christmas shoppers to ease up on gift wrapping and curb a seasonal rise of up to 25% in the 8,500 tons of trash the city produces daily. Kickstarting a sustainable Christmas campaign, authorities were setting up over 50 modules in shopping centres around the Mexican capital to provide shoppers with recycled paper to wrap gifts, La Jornada reported on 18 Decembre. "The aim is to be together and have fun, not produce more trash," Clara Brugada said, speaking inside the Reforma 222 shopping and residential complex. The city's chief environmental officer, Julia Álvarez Icasa, said Christmas was an "environmental challenge" for a city with over nine million residents but also an opportunity to offer people "responsible alternatives." Brugada recalled the city's plans to enforce trash separation at home in 2026. 

Bogotá producing record amounts of trash

The Colombian capital may come to generate well over two million tons of solid trash in 2025, which authorities said was a record. The city was now producing over 6,300 tons of trash every day, exceeding the more than 6,100 tons a day produced in 2024 and around 6,000 tons daily for 2023, El Espectador reported on 14 December, citing the firm running the city's main dump. The city had already generated over 1.92 million tons of trash this year and was expected to beat the 2024 figure of over 2.2 million tons. The figures showed an urgent need for trash management and especially separation, according to the manager of the Doña Juana landfill, Andrea Pérez Cadavid. Observers warned the capital, with a population over over 8.4 million, could face a trash crisis after 11 February 2026, as trash disposal firms' existing contracts end and a "competitive" phase begins in which concessinoary firms could select service sectors and opt for more lucrative parts of the city.

Medellín wants to turn city dump into "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.

Mexico City swapping recyclable trash for produce and basic items

The government of Mexico City was to hold one of its 'bartering' or swap markets on 19 October, wherein residents trade their recyclable trash for foodstuffs including fresh vegetables. The fairs' dates and locations are changeable though tending to take place every week or fortnight since 2025. This one was scheduled for the morning hours, inside the Chapultepec park. The markets are part of the city's bid to boost trash separation and recycling habits in the population, El Sol de México reported on 16 October. Its government wants to halve the amount of trash sent to landfills by 2030, within its Basura cero or Zero Trash agenda. 

Mexico City to enforce trash separation in homes

Mexico City will gradually enforce trash separation at source from January 2026, aiming to halve the refuse sent into landfills by 2030, and recover and reuse as much as possible. The city's mayoress, Clara Brugada, said all schools, offices and households would have to divide their trash into organic, recyclables and non-recyclables from 1 January, and the city had two months to prepare people for what she said was "no minor task," the website Animal político reported on 8 October. The city, with a population exceeding 9.2 million people, reportedly generates 8,600 tons of trash daily. This was less than the 12,900 tons reported as produced daily in 2016. Brugada said the city would boost its collecting and recycling budget, with the goal of composting organic trash and turning non-organic materials into final products ranging from fuel to tarmac, acoustic padding and the like. The city has vowed to cut its carbon emissions 35% over an unspecified time. The environmental organization Greenpeace warned on 7 October that government-backed initiatives favoring reuse or recycling of plastic - and often praised as part of a sustainable or circular economy - were often ploys to prevent moves to curb relentless plastic production in line with big-business interests. As was pointed out in 2016, the Mexican capital's problem was not recycling, but the sheer amount of trash the city 'spewed out' every day.

Bogotá grapples with its trash

Bogotá, home to just under eight million people, produces some 7,500 tonnes of trash every day and has broadly failed in recent years to reduce or significantly recycle its refuse. The city government led by the mayor Luis Carlos Galán, estimates every city resident produces a kilogram of trash daily, while one senator, Carlos Eduardo Guevara of MIRA, a "Christian" party, has said the city produced enough trash every year to fill the Campín soccer stadium 18 times, according to the website Confidencial noticias. The vast majority of this trash (about 6,000 tonnes) is buried in the Doña Juana dump, which reports often describe as overflowing and an environmental and health risk. The city's collection system, in place since 2018, divides the capital into five zones worked by private firms. Their concessions will expire on 11 February 2026, though it was not yet clear if the city had a specific and better plan afoot to tackle a problem residents believe had worsened. Trash piles are a common sight on streets and the municipal government has identified numerous 'critical points' where trash piles up. A good deal of collection and recycling is undertaken by informal pickers the city has sought to recruit on a more formal basis. Most recently the municipality counted 22,000 recyclers it said were helping recover 1,200 tonnes of trash (or 16% of 7,500 tonnes) daily. Just over half of the capital's solid trash is organic or food remains, with just under 17% consisting of plastic and just under 14%, other packacking (including Tetrapack-style boxes), according to the city's Public Services department.

Bogotá rolls out new, streetside trash containers

The Bogotá city government began placing new trash containers around the capital in late November, and was observing their usage in an initial adaptation phase. The containers, as shown on news websites, were very similar to those used in Spanish cities like Barcelona and Valencia, and require residents to bin their trash outside buildings. The city government believes they are cleaner and will encourage people to separate trash, and intends to place 10,744 containers around the capital. These have either white lids, for recyclables like plastic, paper and cans, or black lids, for all other trash including food remains. The broadcaster Caracol noted on Christmas Day that some residents were already confused by or indifferent to the distinction, as certain bins contained the wrong sort of rubbish. Others had been vandalized or sprayed, though "no more than one per cent," according to the head of trash collection at the Special Administrative Unit for Public Services, the office running various city services, Yanlicer Pérez.