Guatemala City dump
Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Size: 500 tons/day; 40 acres
Type of garbage: Open dump; includes medical waste
Health implications: Methane emissions from the dump caused it to catch fire in 2005. Toxins leaking from the dump can get into the surrounding area.
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a nonprofit research organization, calls this dump one of the largest in Central America. COHA says that thousands of squatters live on the edges of the dump. The Inter Press Service, a nonprofit news service, reports that the dump receives about 500 tons per day.
