After five days of protests outside the Punta Lara dump, south of La Plata, the Argentine government promised on Oct. 23 to comply in December with the judicial mandate to close the facility. During the protests, garbage collection was halted for a population of 1.5 million people, which, on the eve of Sunday's general elections, forced officials to make a political promise, Alejandro Meitin, of the Ala Plástica organization, told Tierramérica.

The dump receives 1,200 tons of waste daily from six municipalities, and the courts ordered its closure. But the residents say the legal rulings are ignored and the authorities, without alternatives for disposing of the garbage, put off implementing the decisions.