Mexican Waste Sector Methane Analysis

The report analyzes Mexico's waste sector methane emissions, highlighting a significant increase since 1990 and a lack of integrated data systems. It identifies critical gaps in organic waste treatment, landfill gas capture, and municipal financing, while providing recommendations to strengthen the regulatory framework and improve stakeholder capacity to meet national climate targets.

• Methane emissions from the waste sector (including solid waste and wastewater) reached 63.8 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2021, marking an 18% increase from 2019 and a rise of over 300% since 1990.
• Solid waste emissions are primarily driven by managed disposal sites (47%), followed by open dumpsites (34%) and unmanaged disposal sites (19%).
• Mexico's 2022 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commits to a 35% reduction of total GHG emissions by 2030, potentially increasing to 40% with international support, but it does not set specific methane or waste sector targets.
• Waste management infrastructure is severely lacking; as of 2022, only 36% of final disposal sites had waterproof covers, 15% had leachate treatment systems, and less than 3% had landfill gas capture systems.
• Organic waste constitutes 46% of generated waste, yet only about 7% of organic municipal solid waste is treated via composting or anaerobic digestion.
• The waste sector is characterized by significant data inconsistencies across official sources, such as the DBGIR, National MSW Atlas, and National Census, which complicates trend analysis.
• Municipal waste management is chronically underfunded, with many municipalities lacking the data to budget projects and facing complex processes to access federal or international credits.
• The informal sector plays a critical role in recycling, with approximately 500,000 people generating over 21 million USD annually, though they lack official government recognition.
• While Mexico has a comprehensive legal foundation through the General Law for the Prevention and Integrated Management of Waste (LGPGIR) and the General Law on Climate Change (LGCC), there is a systemic lack of compliance and enforcement at the municipal level.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2024). Mexican Waste Sector Methane Analysis. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28173156/mexico-wastemap-report.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Mexican Waste Sector Methane Analysis. 2024. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28173156/mexico-wastemap-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Mexican Waste Sector Methane Analysis |date=October 2024 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28173156/mexico-wastemap-report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2024mexican, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Mexican Waste Sector Methane Analysis}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28173156/mexico-wastemap-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }