Effective solid-waste management in Ja
SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS over the years have tried to streamline the management of solid waste in Jamaica; however, environmentalists and the average man will quickly point out the lack of sufficient legislation, enforcement actions, public education, and capital investment to effectively address our challenges to manage solid waste. All these severely affect our progress as a nation to find an antidote for the solid-waste monster. The problem is twofold.
Citizens have not been playing their part in helping to solve the problems, and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) must be held accountable as the regulators of the solid-waste industry in Jamaica, and, by extension, the regional entities that are charged with the day-to-day responsibility of collection, transportation, and disposal of solid waste. Let us examine the role of the NSWMA further.
ROLE OF THE NSWMA
The NSWMA was established in 2002 as the entity with responsibility to (among other duties)
a) “take all such steps as are necessary for the effective management of solid waste in Jamaica in order to safeguard public health, ensure that the waste is collected, stored, transported, recycled, reused, or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner and promote safety standards in relation to such waste;
b) promote public awareness of the importance of efficient solid-waste management and foster the understanding of its importance to the conservation, protection, and proper use of the environment”.
It is clear that the NSWMA has a massive responsibility to the citizens of Jamaica. There are strong arguments to support the claims that much more could be done with its limited resources. Let us examine all the elements involved in the solid waste management process.
In Jamaica, solid-waste management involves four elements:
1. Generation – materials deemed to have no value by the user/owner and are being prepared for disposal;
2. On-site handling and storage; 3. Collection; 4. Disposal. Closer examination of the four elements listed above would indicate that the responsibilities are evenly split
between the two partners: The citizen and government/the authority. The citizens play major roles in the first two elements and the NSWMA in the latter two elements.
The existing problems with proper solid waste management in Jamaica are shared by both citizens and the authority.
CHALLENGES AND WAYS TO IMPROVE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN JAMAICA
By far the greatest challenge is illegal dumping and littering. Daily, most persons encounter a pedestrian that drops garbage in the streets along roadways; a resident who dumps waste in a gully; or the motorists who expel garbage from the window of their vehicles. Business operators are now major contributors of illegal dumping and littering by refusing to engage waste haulers to remove solid waste generated by their businesses.
Collectively, persons who are guilty of illegal dumping and littering are not concerned about the adverse effects on public and environmental health. Additionally, studies have shown that persons living in clean areas with abundant green spaces have better mental and physical health than people who live in areas with litter problems.
It costs the NSWMA tens of millions of dollars each year to clean illegal dump sites, streets, verges, and drains. This adds strain to the already limited resources of the Authority, and the money spent could be used on acquiring additional trucks to make frequent collection and/or to effect remedial work on the eight disposal sites, among other things.
Optimistically, there is hope, and every citizen can play a role in effective solidwaste management by practising the three Rs of solid-waste management: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Every citizen in Jamaica should make it his or her priority to significantly lessen the amount of solid waste entering the disposal sites. The ‘Three Rs’ of solid-waste management (reduce, reuse, and recycle) concept is a measure to effectively manage solid waste. Recycling is the ‘R’ most commonly considered, or recommended, by individuals to tackle the waste monster, but it should be the last option to consider.
The best and most effective way to manage solid waste is to reduce the amount that is generated. The first priority in reducing waste is to create less waste in the first place.
Some ways to reduce our generation of solid waste include:
When you go shopping, purchase only the items that you need.
Make every effort to consume or use all the items purchased.
Avoid purchasing goods in excess packaging (especially plastic, paper, and cardboard)
Purchase items in bulk instead of frequent visits to grocery shops and supermarkets.
Prepare most meals at home. If meals are purchased from restaurants, refuse bags.
Compost lawn clippings, leaves, tree trimmings, and fruit and vegetable scraps.
Print on both sides of paper.
Use old or spoilt prints as scrap paper.
If the amount of waste generated cannot be reduced, then every effort should be made to reuse as much as possible. Persons can:
Purchase fewer quality pieces of clothing instead of numerous inferior ones. Quality pieces can be worn over and over.
Carry their own shopping bags to stores.
Share items with family and close friends that they don’t use very often.
Donate unwanted items such as clothing, furniture, appliances, and electronics to thrift stores or charitable organisations.
Repair broken items instead of throwing away and buying new ones.
Use old bath towels as beds for animals.
Use water bottles instead of buying water daily.
Use metal utensils and meal containers instead of plastic and styrofoam.
Recycling has the potential to transform what was old into something new, but it should be the last of the three Rs to consider. There are a number of entities in Jamaica currently engaged in the recycling trade. A simple Internet search will reveal the details for companies recycling plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, and metals. Apart from a reduction in the amount of waste entering disposal sites, recycling helps in the conservation of natural resources. For example, making paper from old newspaper saves a valuable natural resource: trees. Old tyres have numerous uses and can be used to make crumb rubber, which is a main ingredient in basketball/netball courts, and plastic bottles/containers can be used to make articles of clothing.
Additionally, each person can start plastic containers separation at home/in the office, in your neighbourhood and or a compost heap and make it a way of life for others to emulate. For details on starting plastic containers separation and or composting, contact the NSWMA at 1-888-253-2652, 448-3220, or send an email to nswma@nswma.gov.jm and let us start a habit that will preserve and protect planet Earth.