PLASTIC POLLUTION The multimillion-dollar problem
Figure 1: Imports of Plastic for Packaging or Conveyance: 2011–2015, kg
THE MARCH 2015 fire at the Riverton City dump affected 808,553 persons living in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine, while the flooding of Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston in September 2016 had devastating impacts on businesses and individuals working and living along that corridor. Two government agencies that experienced losses were the Fisheries Division and the Sugar Company of Jamaica. Estimated losses for the Sugar Company was between $200 and $300 million.
Plastics are the second most collected item at the Riverton dump, while the flooding was attributed to garbage, made up of plastic bottles, bags and styrofoam, among others, blocking drains along the Shoemaker Gully. These environmental events have made Jamaicans more aware of how human actions can have an adverse impact on economic activity, health and the overall quality of life.
Modernisation and growth of the Caribbean society, coupled with poor or inadequate solid waste management, has resulted in the improper disposal of waste. Most Central American and Caribbean countries dispose of their wastes into open-air dumps because of a lack of adequate landfills, as stated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
In 2001, Jamaica developed a policy framework entitled ‘A Short-term Strategy for the Management of Plastic Packaging Materials in Jamaica’. The document recognised that plastic packaging materials, particularly polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is mainly used to produce bottles, poses an immediate threat to public health and the natural environment because of indiscriminate dumping.
Jamaica imports more than 40 items of plastics for the use of packing and conveyance. Figure 1 represents the top 10 plastic items imported into Jamaica between 2011 and 2015.
Jamaica imported a grand total of 307.4 million kilograms of plastic between the period 2004 and 2015, averaging approximately 25.6 million Figure 2: Total Imports of Plastic for Packaging or Conveyance: 2004-2015, kg kilograms per annum. The greatest volume of plastic imports, 30.7 million kilograms, was recorded in 2015 (see Figure 2). Imports increased by 27.3 per cent between 2004 (20.0 million kg) and 2007 (27.5 million kg), with a decrease of 11.6 per cent in 2008 over the previous year. The volume of plastics imported between 2009 and 2015 has fluctuated, averaging 27 million kilograms annually.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
In Figure 3, which shows waste composition for the years 2013 and 2014, waste made up of compostable or organic material averaged 58.5 per cent of total waste collected, followed by plastics at 15 per cent.
Initiatives undertaken to minimise plastic pollution A Plastic Separation Initiative in Government Entities programme was introduced to government entities in April 2014 with the objective of encouraging employees and visitors to separate plastic containers from regular waste. Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) International Coastal Cleanup Day is an event spearheaded by the Ocean Conservancy, an international environmental agency aimed at protecting the world’s ocean and their natural resources. Table 2 shows that
IIJamaica recorded a large quantity of plastic items plastics at the 2015 International Coastal Cleanup Day.
Recycle Now Jamaica is an initiative launched in 2014 between the Government of Jamaica and the private sector, whereby an organisation is to be established, with the main objective of an islandwide collection and recycling of PET bottles.
The bottles were to be collected and placed at four depositories across the island and persons would be paid based on the weight of the bottles distributed for recycling. The Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica campaign was introduced by JET, which received funding from the Tourism Enhancement Fund. This campaign is aimed at sensitising Jamaicans to proper waste-management and sanitation practices. Jamaica has begun to show signs of curbing the deleterious impact of styrofoam with the Senate recently approving a ban on styrofoam. This, coupled with greater public awareness of the impact of plastics on the environment, is hoped to lessen this very serious problem. SCHMOI MCLEAN Statistician Statistical Institute of Jamaica
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