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Waste Management

Guatemala has beautiful landscapes and scenery that attract nearly 10 million tourists each year however, its waste management dilemma is significant. Poor disposal of waste can cause bigger problems such as health issues, and environmental risks. 25-30% of diseases world-wide are caused by poor waste management. Recent organizations have been developed to better improve Guatemala's waste management, including non-profit organizations such as Long Way Home, who offers new forms of constructions to utilize waste. Other project were set in place to help and understand the poor governance of Guatemala's waste production, however, these productions were hindered by high city debts, unstable city administrations, and inability to access financial means of investment for this cause. In 2006, the Red Giresol Guatemala was created in alliance with Mexico and Germany to promote environmental sustainability with initial funding of less than 200,000 USD. This initiative provided training to public and private sector employees to educate and advocate for waste management by teaching correct use of debris storage and transportation, and reuse, reduce, recycle, techniques. According to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Guatemala Urban Municipal Governance Project Political Economy Assessment recorded by U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), the 14 million population of Guatemala produces 1.26 million tons of solid waste annually. The large quantities of waste production can be accounted for by it's large scale-farming for its export of palm oil and other raw materials. A study done in San Mateo Ixtatán, implemented a solid waste program to a population of 10,000 in an urban area, where they taught attending students solid waste management and grew attendance throughout the course. The rise in class size hinted to the motivation brought by the study however, in the concluding results, one of the hardest parts of maintaining waste management was long term commitment. Along with the factors of having to educate a community and finding participants, the city also had to deal with long distance recycling centers which made it a hassle for willing members. Nevertheless, the results this study found put into effect the Solid Waste Management program (SWM) and is being replicated throughout Guatemala and other similar communities.