ECOCE Leads Campaign to Support Mexico City Waste Separation Law

Environmental nonprofit ECOCE A.C. has launched a public awareness push to support Mexico City’s new “Transform Your City: Every Waste in Its Place” campaign, a citywide law that will require residents to separate household waste. The new regulations, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2026, mandate citizens to separate their waste into organic, recyclable, and nonrecyclable categories. 

Each waste type will have a designated destination: organic waste will be sent for composting and hydrothermal carbonization processes; recyclable inorganic waste will go to recycling plants; and non-recyclable materials will be converted into refuse-derived fuel, significantly reducing the volume of waste sent to landfills. Under the framework established by Mexico City Ministry of Environment (SEDEMA), recyclable materials — including PET, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), flexible plastic packaging, cardboard, glass, and aluminum — are collected on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Authorities say the schedule reinforces household-level separation and helps ensure recyclable materials are reintegrated into formal recycling systems rather than lost or contaminated.

Per its agreement with SEDEMA, ECOCE will contribute its technical expertise with recycling value chains as the new rules on waste collection and classification are applied. As part of its support for the new waste law, ECOCE has also expanded its work on materials that present higher recycling challenges, particularly flexible plastic packaging. In 2025, the association partnered with Huerto Roma Verde to launch and operate a collection center for flexible packaging, which requires specialized processors in order to be integrated into the recyclable stream. 

Last year, ECOCE also signed an agreement with Canada-based Aduro Clean Technologies to explore advanced recycling pathways that could broaden circularity options for flexible plastic packaging in Mexico. The partnership aims to assess technologies that complement existing mechanical recycling processes and expand recovery capacity.

Jorge Terrazas, CEO, ECOCE, says that 2025 marked a key period for strengthening alliances and developing solutions that allow waste to be treated as a resource, supporting both urban sustainability objectives and national recycling capacity. “The circular economy only works when every link in the chain is active,” says Terrazas. “Separating waste correctly is a daily action that enables the entire system, from collection to recycling.”

According to Mayor Clara Brugada, residents of Mexico City generate 1.07kg of waste per person each day. To meet their recycling needs, Mexico City operates 12 transfer stations that collectively receive about 8,500 metric t of waste daily. Of that total, roughly 7,000t end up in landfills. According to city data, about 56% of landfill-bound waste is organic, while roughly 21% consists of recyclable inorganic materials and another 21% is considered nonrecoverable.

ECOCE, which is backed by the food and beverage industry, emphasizes that proper separation at the source is a critical step to preserve material value and reduce pressure on landfills. According to Roberto Castillo, Director, Integrated Waste Management Agency (AGIR), only about 15% of waste is now separated at the source. However, with the new campaign, authorities expect recovery rates to rise to as much as 75%.