During the year 2024, the Metropolitan Area of Querétaro experienced a concerning 83% increase in poor air quality compared to the previous year. Additionally, there was a 5% increase in solid waste generation throughout the entity. This deterioration in air quality led to a 26.7% decrease in days of good air quality, dropping from 63.6% in 2023 to 46.6% in 2024.
According to the study conducted, the months with the highest presence of poor, very poor, or extremely poor air quality were the first five months of the year. During January and February, high concentrations of particulate matter, especially PM10 or PM2.5, were observed due to the dry season, which created conditions for "thermal inversion," causing the accumulation of pollutants in the early hours of the day. From March to May, the predominant pollutant was ozone, due to high temperatures and solar radiation conducive to its formation.
Despite these alarming data, the Secretary of Sustainable Development (Sedesu) highlighted that 80% of the time, good or acceptable air quality was maintained in the Metropolitan Area, which provided healthy levels for the population in general, especially for vulnerable groups. Regarding the generation of urban solid waste throughout the state, an average of 2,828 tons per day was reported in 2024, 149 tons more than in 2023, according to the Annual Result 2024 of Environmental Management in the State of Querétaro.
The air in the region exhibited poor quality for 17.98% of the time in 2024, compared to 9.8% in 2023. The levels of "very poor" and "extremely poor" air quality also showed increases, as did the "acceptable" quality, which rose from 25.16% to 34.04%. Solid waste contributed to 7% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the state, a significant increase from 3% in the previous year.
It is important to mention that in the last two years, the landfills of Corregidora and Huimilpan have ceased operations, and currently, the entity has 10 final disposal sites for waste instead of the 12 initial ones in 2023. In 2024, each resident of Querétaro generated about 1,221 kilograms of garbage, 29% more than the national average of 0.944 kilograms.
