A highly polluted small stretch of the Las Vacas River is seen in Zone 6 of Guatemala City. The Las Vacas River is a major outlet for Guatemala City's raw sewage. Its highly polluted waters contain little aquatic life, and contribute to the pollution of the Motagua river and the marine ecosystem in the Gulf of Honduras. It is also considered a garbage service disposal for the poor communities that live on the margins of it, so besides sewage water, the river is polluted by the trash of the households on either side of it. Waste management issues around the world include growing waste generation, poor waste management and the costs of waste pollution. The world generates about 2.1 billion tons of municipal solid waste each year, and this is expected to grow to 3.8 billion tons by 2050. Waste generation is linked to income level, with higher income countries generating more waste per person. At least 33% of the world's waste is mismanaged through open dumping or burning. Landfills are one of the most popular ways to dispose of waste, but they offer few environmental benefits. Waste prevention and management measures could limit the annual cost of waste management to $270.2 billion by 2050. A circular economy model could lead to a net gain of $108.5 billion per year by 2050. Guatemala has a serious waste management problem, with inadequate collection, treatment, and disposal. This leads to pollution of air, soil, and water, and threatens public health. The Guatemala City garbage dump is the biggest landfill in Central America. Most municipalities only collect and dispose of waste, without sorting or treating it. Many final disposal sites are unregulated dumps. A large amount of waste ends up in the Motagua River, which flows into the Caribbean Sea. The Motagua River is one of the largest landfills in Latin America. There is little control over the collection and disposal of garbage. In 2019, Guatemala generated 2.57 million tons of waste. On average, each Guatemalan person produces 0.519 kilograms of waste per day.
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