Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Having a recycling program in Amapas is very important. It helps reduce the volume of garbage and works in favor of ecology. Amapas and PV in general suffer from limited and inefficient garbage recollection. Our goal is to make the Amapas Recycling Program work and last.

We've learned that recycling takes a lot of thought, work and organization. It means being conscious about your garbage and separating it for collection. It means being sure your housekeeper, mozo and building administrator know and do what's needed, always mindful of supporting and sustaining Nature.

In August 2015, the Amapas Neighborhood Association began a free three-month Pilot Program for recycling "plastic only." We collected around 30 kilos of plastic per time (6 pickups), then extended the program through the end of the year.

In our first High Season pickup, we doubled our volume to 70 kilos of not just plastic soda bottles, but almost all kinds of plastic containers, such as yogurt, detergent, etc. Participants could just rinse out and separate their plastics, deposit them in our big black plastic bags, and their administrator or mozo could keep the bag(s) in the building until our driver collected them.

Participants

To be a participant of this program you must be an Amapas Neighborhood Association member, and contact our Administrator.

Every participant gets plastic bags as needed, and uses their own bins or barrels to contain the bags until full, changing out the bags when full and storing them until the scheduled pickup.

The participants must provide the Amapas Administrator with contact info: the name of the responsible ANA member, building administrator and Mozo along with emails and cellphone numbers so we can coordinate the pickups a day in advance, and arrange to leave the bags outside the gates for a simple pickup system. Additional details can be worked out with the ANA Administrator.

Current participants are:

1. Ventanas del Mar
2. Horizon
3. Terrazas del Mar
4. Renaissance
5. Casa del Angel
6. Casa de los Arcos
7. Villa de la Colina II
8. Villas de la Colina I
9. Condo Hortensias
10. Vista Amapas
11. Casa Cupula
12. Avalon
13. Brisa Lunar
14. Selvamar

Free 'Test' Program thru December 2015

Our Recycling Program is new, so it's hard to estimate participation and cost. This Pilot Program is a 'test-run' to gauge member interest and participation, discover the best/most efficient administration, work out the kinks, and estimate the cost.

ANA's goal is to provide an ongoing recycling service for interested members and member buildings. Based on the results of the Test, ANA will estimate the cost of continuing the program on a self-sustaining 'revenue neutral' way, so that a small fee paid by participating members and buildings will cover the costs, which include: volume, weight, pickup and pickup/delivery/drop-off costs, logistics issues, and income, if any.

It's not too late to sign up! If you or your building would like to participate, please contact ANA Administrator Viviana Teston at admin(at)amapaspv.com.

Program Extended to Include Aluminum Cans

Our initial recycling program was for "plastics only," but we have since found a place that accepts aluminum cans as well, so we can now extend our program to include soda cans and other aluminum materials for recycling.

Plastic Bottle Caps & Aluminum Pull Tabs

Plastic bottle caps and pull tabs are not accepted by our local recycling center, so they must be saved and delivered separately.

There is a non-profit organization in Guadalajara called Angeles en Libertad A.C. that collects and resells caps and rings. With the income, they buy medicine and pay for doctors for low-income families. They have collection events twice a year, and we are happy to collect your plastic caps and can pull tabs, and deliver them for you in support of this program.

The Amapas Neighborhood Association can accept and recycle the caps and rings, but they must be delivered to our office at Olas Altas #509 (the Ron Morgan Properties office), or dropped off at one of our events, such as our monthly Amapas Nights Outs.

2016 Recycling Program

Early next year we expect to have the final numbers, and present them on our annual meeting. Depending on the season it could mean we must have more than 2 pickups a month and more buildings involve. The buildings that work on our free-test must deliver their own conclusions. We know the cost of pickups can be covered by the recycling proceeds, but each one of us must do their part, so the program will have a cost that will depend on the number of participants and pickups.

For more information, please contact ANA Administrator Viviana Teston at admin(at)amapaspv.com.

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The Amapas Neighborhood Association is the official association of residents and business owners in the Colonia Amapas of Puerto Vallarta. A volunteer and not-for-profit association with about 350 members, the ANA was founded in 2002 to improve the quality of life in Amapas. We work to keep our neighborhood safe, beautiful, desirable and welcoming to tourists and residents from all countries and walks of life. We are also the official "Junta Vecinal" or neighborhood council for Amapas, the legal representative of the neighborhood to the city government. Learn more at AmapasPV.com.