GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO 4R’s PHILOSOPHY

The Barbados Government has reiterated its commitment to the three R’s philosophy – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – and has added a fourth – Recovery!

This commitment was recently enunciated by Minister of the Environment, Dr. Denis Lowe, while addressing the launch of the University of the West Indies’ Recycling Initiative at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination.

“Government…is absolutely committed to the 3R’S philosophy of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and at the launch of the 3R’s fair on September 13, 2008; we introduced a 4th – Recovery – as part of Government’s commitment to adding waste-to-energy to the equation for addressing solid waste management in Barbados,” the Minister told the gathering of recyclers, university officials and other guests.

Making it clear that returning items for reuse or recycling was “not a new practice for Barbadians”, Dr. Lowe cited the Returnable Containers Act of 1986 which, according to him, had “worked well” to reduce the amounts of glass and plastic containers entering the landfill. He noted, however, that it did not adequately address other containers.

“For this reason, the Act is being revised to ensure that it is more relevant to today’s situation, as the number and types of items that can be recycled have increased,” the Minister explained.

Minister Lowe, however, stressed that several types of waste were still being recycled on the island, including paper, plastics, glass, ferrous and non-ferrous materials, cooking and automotive oils, newsprint, cardboard, batteries and other electronic wastes.

Dr. Lowe said Government was also embarking on a number of initiatives including the establishment of the Solid Waste Management Centre at Vaucluse, St. Thomas. The facility will include a transfer station for the processing and sorting of waste; a chemical waste storage facility; as well as a materials recovery and composting facility.

He added that Government was also examining the feasibility of pursuing a number of waste-to-energy options, including incineration and the conversion of landfill gas-to-energy. (CG)

Nevis Solid Waste Management Authority commissions new tirebaler

Discarded tires on Nevis will soon be put to use thanks to a new Encore Systems Tirebaler at the Long Point Landfill. The US $60, 000 piece of new equipment sponsored by the Canada Fund and the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) was just commissioned by Nevisian Minister of Health Hon. Hensley Daniel.

The tirebaler was accessed through a collaborative partnership conceived by the Nevis Solid Waste Management Authority with the assistance of the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society who contacted the Canada Fund. The Four Seasons Resorts Estates provided transportation and paid the freight from Miami to Nevis.

Minister Daniel referred to the partnership as a move embraced by the NIA, who had endeavoured to marry its resources with that of the community, the corporate community and civic organizations to develop the island.

He said ultimately, all who lived on Nevis should have a solid interest to ensure that the island was esthetically appealing particularly as tourism was a mainstay of the island's economy.

"When we market the country we don't just sell a villa, we sell environment. In selling the environment we need to know that we are selling a safe and secure environment which is healthy.

"So if we are going to continue to make the island attractive to visitors and high end visitors in particular we have to promote this kind of partnership," he said.

The Minister said it was important to bear in mind that the tirebaler came at a time when there was an increase in the number of vehicles on Nevis and the incidence of abandoned tires was up.

He explained that the new equipment which also had the ability to compress plastic and cardboard material would help to eradicate breeding grounds for mosquitoes and also provide the opportunity for the Authority to engage others who were involved in recycling and as such extend the life of the landfill.

Manager of the Authority Ms. Carlyn Lawrence indicated that the need for a tire baler was realized in 2007 but there had been many setbacks. However, the Authority had planned to use the baled tires on local soil erosion projects and also to divert the waste for recycling.

Not withstanding, she described as another excellent benefit, the elimination of a mosquito habitat for breeding because baled tires could not catch water.

Ms. Lawrence thanked all those who made it possible for making the tire baler available to the Authority.

Other remarks came from Executive Director of the NHCS Mr. John Guilbert, General Manager of the Four Seasons Resorts Estates Ms. Martha Isbister and Mr. Dick Charlebois of Encore Systems in Minnesota.

BERMUDA: Throw your trash out properly, Minister warns

Employees at Bermuda's Ministry of Works and Engineering have expressed concern about the dangers their colleagues are facing due to irresponsible disposal of waste.

Those working in the Solid Waste Section highlighted specific problems such as waste items that damage disposal equipment and residential waste - including animal and even human feces.

The public, haulers and contractors who deliver horticultural waste to the Marsh Folly waste facility have been including hard, sometimes metal objects, which are damaging grinding equipment and even causing injuries to staff, a press release from the Ministry stated.

Residential waste collectors have complained of sharp metal objects, liquids, shards of glass and feces being disposed of improperly.

Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess urged people to dispose of their trash properly.

He said: "We call upon the public to do its part to assist these workers in the discharge of their responsibilities.

"Members of the public will be aware that all of these materials pose threats of injury and infection to our staff."

Information about how and when to dispose of waste is available in the blue "Waste Calendar" and the "What Goes Where" pages of the telephone directory, while the Ministry mails the waste calendar out to homes annually.

Home owners are encouraged to contact our Waste Management Office at 297-7953 if they are unsure about proper disposal procedures.

Meanwhile, Mr. Burgess also announced that the asbestos had been fully removed from the former Club Med building in St. George's.

The waste is now in storage at the Government Quarry.

WASTE MANAGEMENT HIGH ON AGENDA OF DAVID THOMPSON REGIME - PLEDGE FROM ENVIRONMENT MINISTER DURING TOUR

Government is currently exploring several options regarding how it can properly manage its solid waste programme. Minister of the Environment, Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, revealed this today after touring B’s Bottle Depot, Cane Garden, St. Thomas, and Ocean Park, Balls Complex, Christ Church.

According to her, this exercise had become necessary since landfill space was becoming limited because of the huge amount of waste generated by householders.

She commended the management of B’s Bottle Deport for “shifting a lot of stuff that is not bio-degradable from our landfill”.

“… those are the kinds of initiative that we want to encourage. Government is also putting some emphasis on innovation that benefits all Barbadians,” the Minister said.

B’s Bottle Depot’s mission is to maximise the diversion of waste from the landfill towards recycling and it collects plastic and glass bottles, cans, metals, vehicle bumpers and discarded batteries.

Meanwhile, Dr. Byer-Suckoo is looking forward to the introduction of the Environmental Management Act, which she said would be very important for Barbados. “We started to review the Act because other environmental issues have come up which would not have been addressed in that original draft. Things like the management of discarded cell phones, batteries, printers and computers.

“We have a lot of new issues to deal with, so we have to make sure that the legislation we bring not only addresses today’s issues, but looks ahead. Any legislation that is passed now must be able to take us into 2025 and beyond,” she stressed.

Turning her attention to Ocean Park, the Minister said there were a lot of children who had no idea of what happened under water and she said that the park offered children an opportunity to develop their awareness so they could have an appreciation for the delicate balance of the ocean.

She described a tour of the Park as educational and a must for school children. 

US Supermarket chain's trucking fleet shifts to biodiesel

Safeway grocery trucks no longer just deliver vegetables. In a sense, they now run on vegetables, too. Safeway, the nation's third-largest grocery chain, said Friday that its entire nationwide trucking fleet now uses biodiesel, a renewable fuel that can be made from plant oils, used cooking grease or animal fat.

In Safeway's case, the biodiesel comes from soy oil or canola oil. It is blended with regular petroleum diesel before being pumped into the company's more than 1,000 trucks. The move is part of Safeway's broader effort to green its operations.

The Pleasanton company buys much of its electricity from wind farms, has switched to energy-efficient refrigeration and lighting, and is installing solar panels on 24 of its California stores.

Biodiesel generally produces less air pollution than diesel made from petroleum. And it helps rein in greenhouse gas emissions because the plants used to make it absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Safeway won't reveal how much fuel it's buying or the price it's paying. Biodiesel typically costs more than regular diesel.

The price increased last year as some farmers switched from growing soybeans to growing corn, hoping to tap into the growing market for another alternative fuel - corn-based ethanol. Safeway estimates that using the biodiesel blend will cut the company's carbon dioxide emissions by 75 million pounds each year, the equivalent of taking 7,500 cars off the road.

Removal of Bulky Waste Items in Drax Hall & Bydes Mill

The St George South division of the District Emergency Organisation with the Ministries of Environment and Health will be removing bulky waste items from Drax Hall and Bydes Mill areas from 4^th to 8^th February 2008.

Bulky waste items consist of old appliances like fridges and ovens as well as similar metallic items like galvanise as well as old furniture or other wooden or plastic items, etc.

These items are to be set near your regular refuse by no later than 2:00 pm of Sunday 3^rd February 2008, please separate your bulky waste items into wood and other items in one pile and another for only metal objects.

These districts only will undergo the bulky waste clean up – Drax Hall, Drax Hall Jump, Drax Hall Woods and Bydes Mill; other districts will follow in the near future.

Again, all bulky waste items such as old appliances or wooden and metallic objects must be separated and done by no later than 2:00 pm on Sunday 3^rd February 2008. Actual removal of these items from Drax Hall and Bydes Mill runs from 4^th to 8^th February 2008.

RECYCLING LAWS TO BE IMPROVED - MORE MONEY FROM REFUSE SOON

Waste, once considered in a negative light, is now being regarded as a resource to be diverted to a more useful end.

This is a fact which the Solid Waste Project Unit (SWPU) wants Barbadians to be aware of as it implements a comprehensive recycling programme over the next few months.

The SWPU has indicated that there are a number of businesses which have sprung up to meet the needs of recycling in Barbados. “Companies are turning plastic pet bottles, news print, rum bottles, cooking oil and automotive batteries, to name a few items, into big bucks”.

The Unit realizes that not many individuals are aware of the various places where one can take automotive oil, non-ferrous metals (metals not containing iron, including aluminum drink cans) as well as ferrous metals, and that organic waste can benefit from home composting.

As the agency responsible for implementing the Integrated Solid Waste Management Programme (ISWMP), the SWPU is moving swiftly to educate the population about recycling and where waste materials can be taken.The SWPU has been joined by a number of companies which undertake recycling. Most of these, entrepreneurial ventures, have committed themselves to work with the Project Unit, in not only managing the solid waste on the island but also by giving visibility to the efforts at reducing, reusing, recycling.

Persons interested in recycling materials have several businesses to choose from, depending on the items to be discarded. For instance, PET bottles can be returned to B’s Bottle Depot, at Cane Garden St. Thomas, or Eagle Hall, St. Michael. Supermarkets all over the island also accept PET plastic bottles; left over cooking oil is recycled at Native Sun NRG currently located at the Future Centre, Edghill, St. Thomas while office paper is accepted at Ace Recycling, Massiah Street. St. John.

In relation to organic waste, this can be composted.

While Tropical Batteries, located at Fontabelle, and B’s Bottle Depot are known for collecting automotive batteries, automotive oil is usually recycled at Machinery and Allied Engineering Services, Deighton Road, St. Michael.
Non ferrous metals are recycled at Recycling Preparation Inc. at Warrens Industrial Park; while ferrous metals are accepted at B’s Bottle Depot.

The Project Unit, in association with the Barbados Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation, Ministry of Agriculture and the Sanitation Service Authority, is also hosting a number of home composting workshops to equip persons with the required knowledge to turn their organic waste into a useful product.

These were started in May of this year. The list of recyclers/waste brokers can be obtained from the Solid Waste Project Unit by calling 427-5910/11