LatAm waste roundup

Council members in Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast have sparked controversy after directly awarding a contract to the company Envir-EAU de México to build a new sanitary landfill for 41.5mn pesos (US$3.84mn), local press reported. The contract to construct the new landfill was apparently signed last June 12 despite the fact that there were serious irregularities in assigning the works directly without calling a public bidding process, according to National Action Party (PAN) councilor Eva Contreras. Although federal funding was first denied for the project, congress has now approved financing and Contreras claimed that Envir-EAU representative Ramón Aguirre was negotiating the handover of the money to the municipality. Despite the accusations flying around, mayor Gustavo González has denied any wrongdoing and called for the intervention of the municipal public services department. *** Also in Mexico, authorities in Teziutlán in Puebla state are preparing to invest around 2mn pesos (US$185,000) in building a sanitary landfill site in the municipality, newspaper Milenio reported. In the first stage the landfill will serve only Teziutlán, but garbage from other municipalities, including Hueyapan, Xiutetelco and Chignautla, will be disposed there in a second phase. The municipality has already handed the environment ministry the executive project and environmental studies for the landfill, but it is still awaiting final approval. The funds for construction will be supplied by the municipality itself with support from the social development ministry. *** A German company is interested in the business of processing garbage and recycling solid waste in Paraguayan capital Asunción, according to a report in daily Última Hora. Paraguay's ambassador to the EU, José María Ibáñez, said that a group representing the company, which was not named, would be arriving in the country in the next few days with the intention of finalizing the details of the project. The plans and projected schedule for the works have already been sent to the Asunción municipal authorities and the public works ministry, Ibáñez said.