Garbage accumulation in Matanzas, Cuba, has shifted from occasional to a permanent urban feature, worsened by a fuel crisis cutting waste collection frequency. Residents burn trash piles to fend off pests, producing toxic smoke. Violeta González, 75, collects aluminum cans from dumps daily to make ends meet.
A fuel crisis has sharply reduced waste collection in Matanzas, leaving household trash piled on street corners, porches, and vacant lots for days. What was once an intermittent issue now forms a constant image of urban decay, with limited institutional response.
Lacking systematic fixes, residents burn these makeshift dumps to curb mosquitoes, rodents, and insects. The resulting toxic smoke from plastics, organic waste, industrial materials, and chemicals wafts through neighborhoods, harming air quality and public health.
Cuba's waste issues revolve around transport and disposal, with recycling existing only on a small, fragmented scale lacking broad infrastructure. Into this steps Violeta González, 75, among the first to systematically gather raw materials from city dumps. She walks long distances from morning to afternoon, selling aluminum cans to a state company.
Despite leg circulation issues and home structural damage, she persists, occasionally aided by a companion for transport. Her earnings fall short of basic needs but provide essential support amid scarcity.
