No new plastic recycling centers?

I've been saving my #1 and #2 plastics assuming some new plastic recycling center would open up Lakeside, but I haven't seen any. Does anyone know of one?

I'm aware that I could probably offload them in Ixtlahuacán at the turn for Santa Cruz, but I'd like something closer if possible.

If there isn't anything, does anyone have experience in Ixtlahuacán? What's the "system" there?

Don't have any history with Ixtlahuaccan, but I have a guy that comes by my house once a week and picks up all my glass, plastic and aluminum. I can get the phone # to you if you are interested. No charge to me for picking the stuff up.

Sure.

Email Conrado at his wife's email Alejandra Lazcano Zermeño

alexlazcano@live.com

My impression is that the short-lived recycling center that was in Riberas del Pilar was a gringo solution to a problem that doesn't exist here. Now please don't get me wrong...

I am all in favor of shrinking my footprint and using less. I am all in favor of recycling. And I am all in favor of sorting by category. We do it and have done it for decades because that's what you do where we're from. There was also the (2-years-ago? 3 years?) astonishingly aggressive and optimistic recycling schedule launched by the municipio de Chapala. I still have the schedule on our refrigerator. Whether or not anyone is participating or complying, I don't know. I'm not the garbage police. I just know we sort and put out stuff on the appropriate days they scheduled way back when.

What I have noticed with my very own eyes is this. The guys on the trucks are sorting stuff upon pick-up, and have for a very long time. (No, I'm sure they don't go through every bag.) But LOOK at the municipal trash trucks next time they swing by. There's a bag for this....an area for that., etc. Now obviously, pre-sorted materials make it more productive and enormously easier for them and I'm sure that is much appreciated. Sorting also undoubtedly keeps a lot of stuff from ending up in the "general fund" of garbage at the landfill...where it may very well get picked over and sorted again if there's any money in it.

I've also noticed in six years of driving throughout Mexico, a lot of trucks stuffed to the gills with sorted materials ready for recycling. (And you'd be blown away by the program in place in Mexico City, at least in one of the tonier neighborhoods where I spent a month not long ago.) So recycling does happen here....somewhere along the trash food chain.

Does anyone know how it actually works here in our area? Or doesn't work in our area? Any people truly in the know out there? All I've ever seen is speculation on the internet....and I'd include my post here in that category. I'm curious and would love to know more if someone is familiar with the local process(es).

P.S. And someone please correct me if I'm wrong about the Reycling Center that used to be in Riberas. Like I said, I just got that impression since it was launched with fanfare among the foreign community, and quickly came and went.

You raise a good point Rosa. I have noticed that trucks are often segregated, however loosely. It's pretty easy to spot the stacks of corrugated cardboard for example. It's so easy to sell scrap metal and aluminum around here that I'm sure it must get sorted out as well. Next time I'm able, I'll check with the trash pickup guys and see what they say about plastic.

Are the Scrap Recyclers no longer in business? http://www.ajijicnews.com/pages/recycle

Scrap Recyclers are still going strong! https://www.facebook.com/scrap.recyclers Conrad and Alejandra will pick up ALL recyclables once a week for free, it is a great service. The garbage men only sort plastic aluminum and cardboard. The rest gets taken to the dump. Alejandra speaks English and you can set up your service by calling her cell at 33 1537 8437.

They even take electronics!

They collect
• Plastic: all kinds…bottles, plastic bags, plastic wrappers, hard plastic containers, broken plastic furniture
• Glass: bottles, broken glass, jars, plates
• Metals: all kinds of cans, all kinds of metals
• Paper: magazines, newspaper, office paper, flyers, books
• Cardboard: all the way from the small box for a cake mix, to the box of a fridge
• Electronics: old computers, TVs, printers, etc....
• Batteries: they don’t recycle these themselves, but send them to SEMARNAT for their proper disposal.
WHAT THEY DON'T TAKE*:
•Kitchen residues; napkins, food, or dirty containers
•Sanitary: Used toilet paper, feminine towels, tampons, hair
•Vacuum cleaners bags (especially if they are full)
•Green trash
•Pet waste
•Medical waste:syringes, bandages and gauze used on medical procedures.
•Oils. Grease. Explosives.
•Dead animals.......or people!

Great information! Thanks so miendo and thomashellyer.

Yes! I used the email thescraprecyclers@gmail.com and got a fast response. They come to my area every two weeks, including tomorrow. I'll have to see what all I can give them! :)

Alejandra told me a couple of days ago to also use her email to make arrangements for pick up. alexlazcano@live.com They come by my house every Friday between 11:30 and 12 on a regular schedule.

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