Brazil, Mexico, and Chile are some of the Latin American countries that generate the most pollution

Citizens daily generate impressive amounts of waste. The bad management, destruction or reuse of these is reflected in the health of the citizens themselves and the deterioration of the environment.

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There are several factors that make this a bigger problem. The main one is the union of the increase in the purchasing power of the citizens with the ignorance and, sometimes, disinterested by the policies or processes for the discarding of these.

In a ranking prepared by "The Waste Atlas" in May 2017, Brazil and Mexico were among the fourteen most polluting countries, talking about the generation of garbage. Brazil ranked fourth with 62,730,096 tons per year and Mexico ninth with 39,395,595 tons per year. However, it is much more accurate to analyze the statistics of the amount of waste per person, because for example, globally speaking, the United States and China are the largest producers of waste, but they are also the countries with the largest population.

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Related to the above, Chile is the Latin American country that generates more waste per person, around 456 kilograms. Greenpeace Chile points to the increase in the level of garbage, the union of the lack of public recycling policies with the increase in the purchasing power of people. This added to the lack of awareness of the amount of garbage that is generated. According to the agency "The Waste Atlas", Chile is ahead of Brazil (383 kilos), Uruguay (376), Panama (343), Argentina (341) and Peru (273.8).

The knowledge about policies and processes is much broader, shocking and important than one might think. Since there are different types of waste and with each one different procedure are carried out, which can affect human life and in general the environment in different ways.

Recently the most visible type of waste is the waste of electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE), which contains minimal amounts of toxic substances such as cobalt, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, arsenic and cadmium that can be found in Switches, circuit boards, portable computer batteries, monitors, etc.

During the use of the devices, these substances do not represent danger, but when their useful life ends, they can begin to filter. If discarded on the ground, in bodies of water or in the open air, they can put human health at risk or generate a serious impact on the environment.

Therefore, beyond constantly requesting the application of public recycling policies (necessary act), we must be aware of our own waste and the process that we must carry out with them to dispose of them. There are companies that receive recycling as a donation to treat it correctly, others that exchange electronic devices for subsidies, in order to destroy them ecologically. It's just a matter of informing us and having the interest to be aware of everything that involves the waste of a garbage.

LatinAmerican Post | Natalia Isaza Chavarría

Translated from ¿Eres consciente de lo que haces con tu basura?