Waste management will be upgraded

The Dutch Government and the public entities St. Eustatius and Saba last week reached an agreement on an extensive waste-management project which involves recycling bins and the further sanitation of the landfill sites. This reports The Daily Herald. Representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment I&M and the governments of St. Eustatius and Saba discussed the details of the project to professionalise waste management in a meeting during the Caribbean Netherlands Week in The Hague last week. The Ministry agreed to make 1.3 million euros per island available for the project, which includes separation and recycling of waste, new garbage trucks and special bins. New bins will be distributed among residents and businesses on St. Eustatius and Saba later this year. Two separate colour bins will be distributed: orange and grey. The orange will be for recyclable, dry waste items, like plastic, glass, cans, paper and small household appliances. The grey ones for the rest of the waste. Saba Commissioner Bruce Zagers and his colleague Carlyle Tearr said the orders for the bins, trucks and other equipment should be going out in about two weeks.
For Saba, the project includes the necessary civil works at the landfill site, such as a depot for separation of waste and a building for the incineration of the garbage. The incineration will be done in a closed system to prevent the emission of harmful fumes or toxins. The separated waste of both islands will be exported for further recycling abroad. A company on St. Maarten handles the shipping out of the recyclable materials. This includes old tyres. On Saba, the old tyres are compressed into a solid block, which prevents them from being used for mosquito breeding. On St. Eustatius, the old tyres are shredded and either reused in concrete and asphalt or shipped out for recycling.
The sanitising of the landfill on Saba will continue. On St. Eustatius, the current dump site will be cleaned and isolated, said Tearr. The further upgrading of waste management is good news for the two islands, which are doing much better than their larger sister island St. Maarten in this area.