The collection and treatment of household waste in the Cuban capital will be stepped up through a cooperation project funded by the Japanese government. Earlier this month, Havana’s sanitation departments received a donation of 746,000 dollars worth of equipment for waste collection and processing, including the production of fertilizer from organic waste.

The project, scheduled to run until 2012, will contribute "to the improvement of the working conditions of workers in the sector, as well as the quality of life of the 2.2 million citizens of the 15 municipalities in Havana," Atsushi Tsukiyama, the economic cooperation attaché at the Japanese embassy, told Tierramérica.

It is estimated that the Cuban capital produces some 18,000 cubic meters of household waste a day.