When the El Inga landfill was closed for three days due to a demonstration by residents of the Pifo communities, northeast of Quito, the two transfer stations that receive more than two thousand tons of garbage daily collapsed by accumulating waste from the entire capital.
From reactivation, on January 26 from 2022, Omar Landazuri operations manager of the Metropolitan Company for Comprehensive Waste Management (Emgirs) offered that the transfer of garbage be will normalize in a week about.
However, seven weeks after Garbage continues to accumulate at these stations. This was reported by an official who asked to keep his name confidential, who told this newspaper that Until Friday, March 11, they registered averages of 600 to 800 tons daily at the south station, located on Simón Bolívar avenue, near the Guajaló interchange.
According to the Emgirs website, the station (ET South) has 16 trucks with a maximum capacity of 30 tons. In other words, if all the trucks transport their maximum load, they would be able to transfer 480 tons, but the reality is different. in this station They usually have four units, when there is a large accumulation, they send two tractor-trailers from the north station, that is to say “a hole is covered, but another one is opened, the other units are damaged or the drivers are resting”, the official mentioned.
Between the damaged units they find each other six who were attacked by protesters of the communities near the landfill on January 25.
In this place, the garbage from the collection trucks is deposited in a shed and passes into a hopper (pyramid-shaped conduit) that leads to a compaction system, before being entered into the trucks. “Nowadays There is no separation of reusable material (recycling) in this area of operations, however, there is an Urban Solid Waste Separation Plant, which is managed directly by Emgirs-EP in another area of the transfer station,” says the website.
This it is not fulfilled either according to the station worker, because he assured that the recycling plant was put on trial for a few months and was damaged. “Currently it is disabled and for it to start working they have to change several parts because they are rusty”he pointed out.
To north Transfer Station, located in Zámbiza arrives the most of the garbage collected in Quito. But, the lack of trucks that transport the waste to the landfill also generates accumulation. According to the Emgirs website they have 16 units.
According to the information that reached this newspaper, in They have a total fleet of 10 trucks, four for the south station and six for the north station. When there is accumulation in one of these they allocate vehicles of the other, correcting the problem in an emergent way, but creating accumulation in which it was left without supply of vehicles.
For the expert on environmental issues Veronica Arias the accumulation of garbage in the transfer stations responds to a mismanagement of the municipal company. Furthermore, he pointed out that garbage cannot remain for more than two and a half hours by a technical and environmental area since it begins its decomposition process, generating leachate (toxic liquid product of the decomposition of garbage) and bad smell.
El Inga landfill
A bigger problem, according to Arias, is the saturation of the El Inga landfill, located in Pifo, a parish northeast of the capital.
according to the mayor Santiago Guarderas, are close to bucket toss 11 (a new space to deposit garbage) because number 10 has already finished its capacity. He also assured that the studies are carried out in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition and that in these days they will launch the terms of reference. “Many people believes that no bucket has to be opened anymore, (but) all the specialist technicians have indicated that it is necessary, the closure can be done, but an additional bucket will always be necessary to be able to treat the leachate that will always remain,” he added.
In a past interview, the manager of Emgirs, Maricruz Hernandez told EL UNIVERSO that they are working on studies for a new landfill, the same offered to be announced in April of this year. Until then, he assured that They have usable spaces. in the current landfill that will be available to deposit the waste until mid-2022, when the construction of bucket 11 should be ready.
Arias disagrees with this, according to the environmentalist padding is already collapsed and can’t keep getting any more crap.
A new interview on the subject was requested from Emgirs, however, until the date of publication of this information note They responded that they are working on preparing a report on the situation of the stations and the sanitary landfill. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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