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Urban Compost Center

Tijuana Opens First Urban Compost Center in Border Region

Image of banner announcing Tijuana's Urban Compost Center
Banner announcing Tijuana's Urban Compost Center

In January 2013, the municipality of Tijuana celebrated the opening of the first urban compost center of its kind for Mexican residents in the border region. The compost center will produce approximately 150 tons of compost its first year, to be used in nurseries and tree planting throughout Tijuana. Through this center, Tijuana's citizens will learn about composting as a path to zero waste; creating a more sustainable community by using less and recovering more material while reducing waste and toxics—a goal of the Border 2020 Program. During the inaugural event on January 16, 2013, EPA and BECC announced additional funding to build municipal compost expertise and a compost fair to promote public education on the role of composting as a path to develop zero waste programs. Using fewer materials, reducing toxics, and recovering materials used, creates a more sustainable community.

  • Participants at the groundbreaking of the compost center
    Groundbreaking at the compost center
    Border 2012 awarded a grant of $73,000 to Tijuana Calidad de Vida, a non-governmental organization, creating a partnership with Tijuana’s municipality and TCV to develop landscape grade compost from landscape cuttings supplied by the municipality.
  • San Diego’s Miramar Greenery shared firsthand knowledge on composting with TCV and Tijuana officials, experience which TCV is leveraging to operate the compost center, train the city’s parks and two plant nursery’s staff, and prepare a compost practice manual applicable to the region.
  • The center has already trained 170 individuals from various institutions on how the composting is used to divert food, landscape and other organics from dumps and landfills.
  • Utilizing an unused road easement, it demonstrates use of otherwise undevelopable land for green uses.

EPA's grant helped seed the first urban compost center on Mexico's northern border

(Click images for full size photo)

View of the Tijuana urban composting center
Ceremonial check presentation
Ceremonial ribbon cutting
Attendees at the urban compost center opening