The Los Cabos municipal government has established a permanent monthly recycling campaign for household and electronic waste, giving residents two scheduled drop-off days each month at fixed locations in both Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.
The program operates on the last Wednesday and last Friday of every month from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Residents can bring recyclable materials to two collection points: outside the municipal sports institute (INDEM) in San José del Cabo and at the San Lucas delegation office in Cabo San Lucas.
What You Can Drop Off
Accepted materials include cardboard, PET plastic, aluminum, glass, electronic devices, expired medications, used cooking oil, and batteries. These are items that regular trash collection in Los Cabos does not typically sort or process for recycling.
Three private companies are partnering with the municipality to handle technical treatment and processing of collected materials. Maca, Biosea, and GEN will provide specialized waste management services for the program.
Why It Matters for Los Cabos
The municipality faces growing pressure on its landfill capacity. Los Cabos generated roughly 50,000 pounds of beach waste per week by early 2025, according to local Zofemat coordinator Rafael Álvarez Munguía. That figure does not account for the much larger stream of household waste from the region’s roughly 350,000 permanent residents and millions of annual tourists.
City officials say the recycling program aims to reduce landfill saturation and prevent contamination of local groundwater through proper waste segregation. Improper disposal of items like batteries, electronics, and cooking oil poses particular risks to the aquifer that supplies drinking water to the municipality.
Drop-Off Details
Previous recycling collection efforts in Los Cabos operated on a more limited schedule. A Public Services recycling center had been accepting materials on the first Thursday of each month at the Sports Center in San José del Cabo. The new program doubles the frequency and adds a second location in Cabo San Lucas.
Residents should separate materials before arriving at the drop-off points. The program accepts only household quantities, not commercial or industrial waste.
This story was first reported by the Los Cabos municipal government website, loscabos.gob.mx.