Officials from the Bagaces canton in the province of Guanacaste are evaluating a nimble method of garbage collection utilized in the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. This curbside trash pick-up method does not involve the traditional dump truck contracts, which are often plagued by issues such as inadequate staffing, broken down vehicles, labor strikes, and subcontractor disputes.

According to Pulso, a daily newspaper covering San Luis Potosi, officials from Guanacaste were recently in contact with their counterparts in the Municipality of Soledad de Graciano Sánchez and inquired about their trash collection program. This city, which is in central Mexico and has a population of about 230,000 residents, does not use dump trucks for hauling trash. Instead, the municipality has a fleet of privately-owned vehicles for this purpose.

In some rural and semi-urbanized communities of Mexico, trash collection duties are carried out by motocarros (motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles adapted for utility purposes). By offering simple contracts to owners and operators of these vehicles, municipal officials not only bring agility to the trash collection process but also save money and alleviate unemployment to a certain extent. This system has also been implemented in parts of Argentina.

Municipalities across Costa Rica have been outsourcing garbage collection to private contractors for many years. This practice has been stained with corruption and dubious performance. Officials are now contemplating simple, community-based contracts with smaller vehicles that can be easily implemented.

According to Alejandro Arreola Sanchez, environmental services coordinator for the Municipality of Soledad de Graciano Sánchez his office was surprised that Costa Rica, a nation he considers to be a leader in sustainability and sound ecological solutions, would inquire about their garbage pick-up system. He said that the officials from Costa Rica thought that using motocarros in Guanacaste could promote greater sustainability and bring some relief to the painful wave of unemployment that the province has been experiencing over the last few years.