Chilpancingo: Transfers Accepted—The Digital Modernization of Tips for Garbage Collectors

In Chilpancingo, Guerrero, the way waste collection workers collaborate has entered the digital age. What used to require coins in your pocket now accepts direct bank transfers. Municipal collection staff have decided to modernize, according to local media reports from El Sol de Acapulco, incorporating not only electronic transfers but also preparing to accept credit card payments.

The initiative did not originate from municipal offices but from the workers themselves. Óscar Michel, one of the collectors, posted a notice on the vehicle with bank account details at Banorte so that those wishing to contribute can do so digitally. This approach maintains the voluntary nature that has always characterized these contributions. The next step the workers are considering is installing a payment terminal on the truck itself, allowing these vehicles not only to collect waste but also to process transactions on the spot.

Three decades of improvisation and crisis in waste management

To understand this digital transformation, it’s necessary to look back at the last thirty years of local history. Three decades ago, during Saúl Alarcón Abarca’s administration, the municipality began granting concessions to private collectors, some operating even with bicycles, in response to deficiencies in the official service. Over time, this informal solution evolved into a movement known as “La Basura Jefa”: more than two hundred small units traveled around the city offering to take waste in exchange for voluntary cooperation. This hybrid model, combining public and private efforts, became normalized in daily life.

The situation hit rock bottom during Marco Antonio Leyva Mena’s administration, when the La Cinca waste deposit was closed. Guerrero’s capital then faced a visible crisis: piles of garbage accumulated on street corners, covered with lime to prevent infectious outbreaks. Even the plaza of the First Congress of Anáhuac was temporarily occupied by vehicles loaded with waste. The crisis began to ease when an emergency cell was set up at El Huiteco, but this solution only partially resolved the problem, as the lack of collection units remained critical. Later, Mayor Antonio Gaspar attempted to strengthen capacity by leasing vehicles to combat the accumulation of trash in public spaces.

From leasing to municipal service: continuities and changes

During Norma Otilia Hernández’s administration, twenty trucks were purchased under a leasing model with a promise of ownership transfer once payments were completed. However, at the end of that administration, most of the units were withdrawn by the provider company. The current administration has bought some units to replace those that left and launched a campaign to penalize those who dump trash on the street. So far in 2026, more than twenty people have been detained and fined several thousand pesos for this practice.

The invisible impact: 400 tons of daily responsibility

Despite administrative changes and budget fluctuations, collectors play a vital role: every day, they remove approximately four hundred tons of waste from the capital and transport it to the landfill. This constant volume exposes the dump to increasing problems of over-saturation and persistent environmental risks. The digitalization of tips is not just a sign of technological modernization, but also of how everyday economy adapts to new financial patterns. Informal workers, who have lacked access to formal banking systems for decades, now participate in the digital economy through bank transfer accounts.

This transformation reflects a deeper reality: even in service crisis contexts, local actors develop innovative solutions. Accepting transfers on the garbage truck is not an administrative luxury but a sign of how communities adapt their practices to contemporary financial realities, ensuring that transfers are accepted as a form of recognition and support for an essential service that, for thirty years, has depended on the ingenuity and commitment of those who collect the city’s waste daily.