San Fernando wants to be the solution to end pollution

A TOTAL of 763 households will form part of a pilot recycling project in San Fernando, as the city transforms the way it treats with domestic waste.

San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello said they want to be the solution to end pollution and has embraced the opportunity to transform plastics, bottles, soda cans and tetra packs which would normally end up in the trash, into other reusable products.

This is being done through an initiative called the Curbside Recycling Programme Community Awareness, an initiative of the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) aimed at recycling domestic waste throughout the country. It is to be implemented through the 14 regional corporations.

The San Fernando City Corporation (SFCC) is the first to embrace the idea and run with it only three weeks after it was first presented to the council and CEO, Regrello said.

SWMCOL’s quality manager Maria Allong said she was impressed by the speed with which the SFCC took the bold initiative to be the agents of change. For this reason, she said, the citizens must ensure the project’s success.

SFCC’s public health inspector Natasha Howard said too much household waste that could be recycled ends up in landfills and in water courses, often causing flooding. She said the objective of the programme is to reduce the waste through education and public awareness.

She said the pilot project would first target some 763 households within the boundaries of the Cipero River, along the South Trunk Main Road, Bamboo Main Road and Gulf View Main Road and would be subsequently introduced to all nine electoral districts in San Fernando.

“This does not apply just to Gulf View, but to the entire country. Proper waste disposal is very important to our environment and our environmental protection. Far too often we have seen an upsurge of plastics, plastic bottles and other waste that clog our water ways, causing flooding and breeding of mosquitoes that results in vector-borne diseases.

“This initiative will focus on waste reduction and separation of recyclables at the household levels. We call this source separation. Our programme’s objective is to transform and improve traditional waste collection and disposal.”

The first phase of the programme is scheduled for implementation today. On that day, the targeted householders have been advised to place their beverage containers, including plastic bottles, glass bottles, aluminium soda cans and tetra packs in transparent bags and leave them at the curb side.

These bags will be collected by a recycling truck between the hours of 5 am and 5 pm, every Thursday for the next six months.

Allong advised residents to wash the containers and replace the covers before bagging them. She said all of these items could be placed in one single bag.

Regrello said schools around the city were invited to participate in a slogan competition for cash incentives to come up with a theme for the programme.