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This project was funded through the 2020 United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act (P.L. 116-113), which provided the NOAA Marine Debris Program funding to prevent and reduce marine debris in the North American region. Chapter 24 of the USMCA includes specific environmental goals that highlight the need to take action to prevent and reduce marine debris, including plastic litter and microplastics, in order to preserve human health and marine and coastal ecosystems, prevent the loss of biodiversity, and mitigate the costs and impacts of marine debris. This project was awarded competitively and meets the environment goals of the USMCA by promoting waste management infrastructure in communities in Mexico.
The Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey worked with stakeholders across Monterrey, Mexico, to design, implement, and operate a recycling program that aimed to improve waste collection and prevent plastic waste dumping and littering.
Type of Project: Removal
Region: Gulf of America
Project Dates: September 2021 - August 2024
Who was involved?
With support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey worked 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 was the project and why is it important?
The Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey improved waste collection and recycling in the city of Monterrey, Mexico, in an area home to 20,000 people. 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 America at the border of the United States and Mexico.
This project worked with groups of stakeholders to design, implement, and operate a recycling program that would improve waste collection and prevent plastic waste dumping and littering in Monterrey. Project activities included removing trash from illegal dumping sites in urban areas that were leaking waste, and from urban riverine habitats within two small rivers that flow through the city. The project also helped to restore the natural environment of these urban rivers and raise community awareness of the importance of proper trash disposal and recycling.
What were the results?
This project was a binational collaboration between Mexico and the United States focused on the regeneration of an urban water body and promoting a circular economy through prevention efforts and debris removal. Collaborative efforts across the private sector, academia, the public sector, civil society organizations, and the public helped to provide benefits to the people neighboring the targeted watershed(s).
Removal activities occurred near illegal dump sites in the urban areas of Monterrey that were leaking waste. Other removal activities took place in an urban riverine habitat in two small rivers that flow through the project area. In total, 243,766 pounds of debris was removed from these areas over four project phases.
Engaging the community through prevention was also a large part of this project. A total of 2,160 volunteers participated in cleanup activities and 1,457 volunteers acted as citizen observers to identify species in the project area. A collaboration with the architectural design of a new collection center for Monterrey Campus also was completed—with 806 post-secondary adults participating in this academic partnership.
For more information about this project, visit the Marine Debris Program Clearinghouse.