New hopes for Saba’s waste management (updated)

Last week Commissioner Bruce Zagers and Island Secretary Tim Muller met with Director General (DG) Roald Lapperre at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) in The Hague. Mr. Lapperre recently started as the new DG Environment and International Affairs. The Commissioner and Island Secretary had a pleasant introductory meeting with him, during which, the plans for further development of waste management on Saba was part of the discussion.

The Public Entity is currently working on a master plan for waste management with goals for the coming year and longer-term goals. The main aims of this plan are to minimize the need for waste burning and to establish a cleaner burning process. Among other things this means, increasing recycling rates, improving the equipment used to burn non-recyclable waste and finding a new location for the burning equipment.

Included in the Waste Management Master Plan is a recycling campaign to help promote recycling on Saba. Within the campaign, an updated collection schedule will begin, which will make the collection process more efficient and ensure the correct collection of the recyclables. Recycling efforts will be monitored to determine which areas on the island may need more information and assistance with understanding Saba’s recycling capabilities. The information campaign will include visits to the schools, activities within the community, a family-oriented event, held on World Earth Day, April 22nd, 2018 and the distribution of materials which will help make the recycling process more manageable.

Mr. Lapperre responded supportively to the proposed plans and offered to assist with expert advice to help create a master plan that leads to the long-term sustainable development of Saba’s waste management process.

Mr. Bruce Zagers appreciates this support. ‘Saba has come from far with regards to waste management. The recycling facility was a big improvement for the island, where up to 3 years ago almost all waste was burnt. Now it is time to take it to the next level: develop a more efficient process for waste management and reach a consistent recycling rate. We are confident that with the support of I&W we can make this a reality.’

GIS Saba

Saba discusses waste management with new Director-General Lapperre.

Commissioner Bruce Zagers and Is­land Secretary Tim Muller met with Direc­tor General Roald Lap­perre at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Wa­ter Management I&W in The Hague last week. Lapperre recently start­ed as the new Director General of Environ­ment and International Affairs.

Zagers and Muller said they had a “pleasant” introductory meeting with Lapperre, dur­ing which the plans for further development of waste management in Saba were part of the discussion.

Saba is currently work­ing on a masterplan for waste management with goals for the coming year and longer-term goals. The main aims of this plan are to mini­mise the need for waste-burning and to estab­lish a cleaner burning process. Among other things, this means in­creasing recycling rates. improving the equip­ment used to burn non-recyclable waste and finding a new location for the burning equip­ment.

Included in the Waste Management Master Plan is a recycling cam­paign to help promote recycling in Saba. With­in the campaign, an up­dated collection sched­ule will be introduced. which is to make the collection process more efficient and must en­sure the correct collec­tion of the recyclables.

Recycling efforts will be monitored to de­termine what areas on the island may need more information and assistance with under­standing Saba’s recy­cling capabilities. The information campaign will include visits to the schools, activities within the community, a fami­ly-oriented evening to be held on World Earth Day, April 22, and the distribution of materials that will help make the recycling process more manageable.

Lapperre responded supportively to the pro­posed plans and offered to assist with expert advice to help create a masterplan that leads to the long-term sustain­able development of Sa­ba’s waste-management process, according to Zagers and Muller.

Commissioner Zagers appreciates the support. “Saba has come from far with regard to waste management. The recy­cling facility was a big improvement for the is­land, where up to three years ago almost all waste was burnt. Now it is time to take it to the next level: develop a more efficient process for waste management and reach a consistent recycling rate. We are confident that with the support of I&W we can make this a reality,” he said.

The Daily Herald.