Recycling worth more than $$

The cost of recycling should not be measured in dollars and cents alone but on its impact on the environment, TT Solid Waste Management Co Ltd (SWMCOL) chief executive officer Ronald Roach said on Friday.

He shared this view as the curb side recycling programme was launched at Vos Government Primary School, Charles Street, Gasparillo on Friday. The initiative is a joint venture with the Couva/ Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC).

Roach told reporters the raw materials, which include plastic bottles, aluminium cans, tetra packs and glass bottles, are collected and sent to collection facilities at Port of Spain and Gunapo where the materials are processed into new products.

“Right now we are exporting most of it as a commodity. Just a couple weeks ago we had our first use locally so there’s a company that is now buying our recycled material to make new products and we are happy about that because we are completing the loop in Trinidad and it means that these materials are not going into the landfill but are being used to create other products,” he said.

Roach said income earned though the sale of its recycled product was not “significant” as plastic prices, which were related to oil, had dipped on the international market.

“Oil prices have dropped and there is a glut in the market so the money we are making from it helps us cover our cost... it’s not a profitable event at this point in time. We have to look beyond the finances and look at the environmental impact and that is how we are seeing things,” he said.

Roach said garbage scavengers are also expected to be formally incorporated into SWMCOL’s recycling operations as it is implemented throughout the country.

He said there were approximately 250 people involved in scavenging at landfills and some 30 people have been incorporated at the Gunapo landfill.

“We expect to do that at Beetham and at Forres Park. That won’t be able to deal with all of the people who currently scavenge on sites so as part of the programme we do have is the rehabilitation of some of those scavengers,” he said.

Roach said no major fires had occurred at any of its landfill sites and attributed this success to the covering of the waste and better weather conditions.

He said the recycling programme would also ensure there was less flammable materials at landfills. Plans include the conversion of the Forres Park landfill to a “fully engineered sanitary landfill site” with a material recovery facilities for recyclable materials.

“The cost runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars and we expect this to be done over a three-year period, there are a number of studies done and other plans have to be developed before we can actually implement so that is what we are working on now,” he said.

The curbside initiative is expected to commence from Wednesday and include Gasparillo, Couva and Las Lomas.

Corporation chairman Henry Awong said the project would assist in reducing flooding in the sprawling region as residents were being urged to put out their waste for collection and not dump it in watercourses.