It costs the Government $321 million per year to manage this country’s waste collection and disposal.
According to Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh this figure included transportation and waste collection costs, waste disposal costs, and administrative and environmental costs.
Declaring that the waste generation statistics of this country was alarming, Singh said the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) had indicated that the average lifespan of a landfill was 20 years.
However, most of the waste disposal landfill sites in T&T have been operating since the 1960s.
Delivering the feature address at the launch of the National Recycling Week, an initiative by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), at the Hyatt Regency yesterday, Singh said the average person generated approximately four pounds of waste per day, which amounted to more than 1,548 tonnes of waste reaching waste disposal sites per day.
Reflecting on his personal attempts to assist in extinguishing fires at the Beetham Landfill earlier this year, Singh said, “I can tell you that there is a whole economy there and a whole different environment on those landfill sites.”
Attributing the phenomenal growth in waste production to an increased standard of living which had not been supported by advancements in waste management, Singh said there was no segregation of garbage and very little reuse and recycling of waste generally.
Coupled with limited landfill capacities, weak legislative and management systems, rising costs and a lack of education on alternative waste management, the minister said, people continued to indiscriminately discard grass cuttings, food, plastic containers, glass bottles, old car parts, discarded furniture and appliances, without any thought of the environmental impact.
Claiming that the Government had explored options to reduce this financial burden, Singh said they were partnering with the EMA in the hopes that “a fully developed recycling and materials recovery sector would bring in additional revenues from the sale of recyclables and reduced waste for handling and disposal and lower operational costs at the landfill.”
Launching the iCARE (Community, Awareness, Recycle, Everyday) project, EMA’s chairman Dr Allan Bachan said it would encompass the disposal of solid waste including tyres and electronics.
The primary objective of iCARE is to prepare the country for the passage of the EMA’s Solid Waste Rules, which will guide the establishment of appropriate infrastructure and management systems.
iCARE seeks to encourage the public to sort and collect recyclable solid waste from their homes, businesses and communities and drop them off at designated collection sites, in a bid to reduce the amount of waste being sent to overburdened landfills.
Bachan explained that the materials would then be taken to depots located nationwide for further sorting and weighing before deployment to recycling companies.
Schools are also expected to participate in the initiative later on.
The National Week of Recycling will officially run from August 14 to 22, with iCARE expected to continue for a period of six months.
Green transparent garbage bags will be placed at various sites throughout the country, starting today (Sat) and members of the public are urged to use them to sort their waste including plastic, glass, aluminium, milk and juice cartons, and small electronics.
On August 22 and 23, there will be a residential curbside collection of these bags.
The private sector is also encouraged to participate in the venture and, as an added incentive, will receive an environmental seal and certification.