Metabolic Infrastructure Dysfunction: The Case of Composting in Mexico City

Source abstract

Infrastructures are complex socio-technical systems that enable the flow, circulation, and use of natural resources through cities. Using public policy document analysis and qualitative fieldwork, this article retraces the socio-political and technological trajectories that have shaped organic waste management and compost recirculation in Mexico City. The results highlight that the mismatch between the quantity and quality of organic waste and its dedicated treatment infrastructure is at the root of the metabolic dysfunction of the composting system. This system not only fails, despite sustained public investment, to loop organic nutrients, but also contributes to the uncontrolled spillover of inorganic (and potentially toxic) materials into urban green areas and peri-urban farmland.