Reckless dumping causes trash troubles for Tulum, Mexico

Americas Now

One of Mexico’s most popular beach resorts has a waste problem. So a chef from a local restaurant devised a way to use it to make compost.

Tourism development generally benefits local people and businesses. It contributes to increased jobs, sales and profits. It also generally relies on improvement to the area’s infrastructure. But increasingly appropriate infrastructure is being overlooked.

That’s the case with one of Mexico’s top travel destinations – Tulum, Mexico. The city accumulates tons of trash each year but has no way to properly dispose of it.

So a local chef came up with an idea. Compost.

Correspondent Alasdair Baverstock reports.

In addition to the two million tourists who visit Tulum each year, the city has a population of 40,000. That’s up from 3,000 in 1995. The area is designed to hold no more than 7,000 individuals.