NSWMA establishes composting pilot project in Hanover
THE National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has formed a committee in Hanover to facilitate the establishment of a composting pilot project for the parish.
Composting is the process by which organic waste is converted into soil carbon, an excellent fertiliser source, averting the ignitable landfill methane emissions in the process.
“We want to reduce the amount of garbage that we take into the disposal site, and a great parish like Hanover with a large farming community would be a good area for us to get people to move away [from chemical fertilisers] ...into more organic stuff, ‘’ stated Audley Gordon, executive director of the NSWMA.
Gordon was speaking with the Jamaica Observer West following the establishment of the committee last week Monday.
The committee headed by the Social Development Commission (SDC) Parish Manager Tova Trench Anderson was established during a meeting with the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hanover Western, Tamika Davis, and the for the Lucea Division, Easton Edwards.
Other members of the committee include a representative of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, and the Western Parks and Market (WPM), the regional arm of the NSWMA.
“They will be drawing in the wider community as they go on to boost, not only membership but to boost ideas, thoughts and to come up with the best pilot that will see Hanover, not only be the cleanest parish, but Hanover will be the healthiest parish because when we start to grow using compost, the food that we produce will be the real deal,” suggested Gordon.
A study conducted by the Planning & Research Department of the NSWMA in 2013 showed that more than half of the total waste generated annually is compostable waste, composed of yard and food material, which ends up in landfills, and is up to 34 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a century. This data resulted in the encouragement of the entity to establish a composting programme.
Data from the survey indicate that households within rural communities generate an average of 61.21 per cent compostable waste, 6.07 per cent paper waste, and 13.49 per cent plastic. Other forms of waste account for the remaining 19.23 per cent.