The following note was circulated relevant players by Andrew Simpson who is a citizen advocate on environmental matters. Good to see we have Barbadians who care enough about the environment to do something about it.
Even if landfill space was freely available, the SSA fleet was ‘up to task’ of garbage collections across the island, the fertility of our soils allowed for a high degree of food security, there was no un-employment and foreign exchange reserves were not an issue and there was no threat to groundwater and nearshore reefs from imported chemical fertilizers, it would still be a shame for this ‘green waste’ to be wasted.
GOB/SSA please consider engaging private haulers and recyclers to separately collect organic/ biodegradable ‘waste’, at least until SSA is better equipped, so it can be shredded, composted and delivered as a soil amendment product. SBRC has the equipment and is already being paid to process this feedstock.
Coconut branches can be chopped for use as mulch or converted to biochar, inoculated with ‘otherwise difficult to dispose of’ chicken waste and sargassum as an ingredient.
Most yard waste is already put out separately in most cases. What a shame for it to be mixed with refuse; taking up critical space in SSA trucks, and expensive landfill space.
Sorted materials should not be subject to a tipping fee. Remediation of soils is desperately needed for Barbados agricultural industry to prosper in the future.
Let’s not ‘wait and see’. Please contact me for more information on how this “Miracle Mix” can contribute to more sustainable waste management practice.
Andrew Simpson may be contacted through his Facebook page.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.