Cancun, Q.R. — Cancun has become the first in Mexico to join the UN Tourism Global Initiative on Tourism and Plastics. On Thursday, Cancun Mayor Ana Paty Peralta announced the city was part of the zero waste destination project.
“Today Cancun becomes the first tourist destination in Mexico to join the UN Tourism Global Initiative on Tourism and Plastics,” she said. The project, “Zero Waste Destination Cancún” is a joint effort with the business sector where the generation of solid waste, especially plastics and glass, is reduced.
At the Thursday press conference, Mayor Peralta said that 1,500 tons of garbage is generated daily in the city, a challenge that must be addressed with unity and determination.
“Zero Waste Destination Cancun represents the new vision of tourism we are building together with our governor, Mara Lezama: more conscious, fairer, and truly sustainable, generating well-being today without jeopardizing tomorrow,” she said.
The mayor emphasized that her administration has implemented successful programs to promote greater environmental awareness among the population such as recyclathons, fixed collection points, waste separation and recycling campaigns, tree planting, cenote, mangrove and beach cleaning campaigns the city’s Green Units, to name a few.
She explained that the first phase will involve 89 hotels in the hotel zone conducting a diagnostic assessment of the actions taken in their facilities and services to reduce the use of plastic bottles, straws and other disposable items.
She also announced that the first report on the results of this project will be presented at the upcoming International Tourism Fair.
Vicente Ferreyra Acosta, CEO of Sustentur, explained that this is the first project the Tui Care Foundation has undertaken in Latin America. It includes the implementation of several technical and practical actions including an analysis of waste generation in Cancún and its challenges, the creation of the country’s first Tourism and Circular Economy Hub, participation in beach cleanups and the development of local campaigns, to name a few.
Rodrigo de la Peña Segura, President of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, thanked the mayor for joining the project with a three-year circular economy model to achieve more sustainable tourism, encouraging vacationers to join in caring for all the destination’s ecosystems, such as beaches, dunes and cenotes.
He explained that in addition to all the municipal actions undertaken, 15 local companies are already implementing the plastic-free guidelines aiming to achieve a 44 percent reduction in plastic waste annually, which represents 100.7 tons of waste.
