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The Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey is working with stakeholders across Monterrey, Mexico, to design, implement, and operate a recycling program that will improve waste collection and prevent plastic waste dumping and littering.
Type of Project: Removal
Region: Gulf of Mexico
Project Dates: September 2021 - August 2024
Who is involved?
With support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey is working with Fundación FEMSA, the Alianza para la Acción Climática de la Zona Metropolitana de Monterrey, World Wild Fund for Nature México, and Sociedad Sostenible AC, to implement this project in a major urban area of the Rio Grande River Basin.
What is the project and why is it important?
The Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, with support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, is improving waste collection and recycling in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. The project area is home to 20,000 people, many living in conditions of marginalization, poverty, insecurity, and risk. In the project area, an average of 22.5 metric tons of waste is generated monthly. Most of this waste is not collected properly and disposed of in illegal dumpsites, including local waterways, that eventually reach the Rio Grande (U.S.), otherwise known as Rio Bravo (Mexico), which flows into the Gulf of Mexico at the border of the United States and Mexico.
This project is working with groups of stakeholders to design, implement, and operate a recycling program that will improve waste collection and prevent plastic waste dumping and littering in Monterrey. Project activities remove trash from illegal dumping sites in urban areas that are leaking waste and from urban riverine habitats within two small rivers that flow through the city. The project is also helping to restore the natural environment of these urban rivers and raise community awareness of the importance of proper trash disposal and recycling.
For more information about this project, visit the Marine Debris Program Clearinghouse.