Is US$30M enough?

Nov 17, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Waste is big business; has been so for many years. There is a global trade in the dumping of waste. And while much of the concern has been on the dumping of the developed world’s toxic waste in other countries, there is equal concern about a second country accepting a first country’s waste.
Some countries have been known to accept waste for countries to engage in recycling. This happens in countries such as India and China, where electronic waste from the developed world is big business.
Guyanese would also know that China is a major buyer of scrap iron waste. In fact, the collection of scrap iron waste for export to other countries has become a thriving business in Guyana.
Just before it demitted office, the then PNC government was considering a proposal to have Guyana become a dumping ground for foreign waste. There was such a large public outcry when that proposal was made that it was quickly put on the backburner.
For many years, Guyana did not have a waste problem. During the years when imports were highly restricted due to foreign exchange shortages, waste  generation was not that of a major problem because there was not that much waste at all. In the city, the municipality used to collect the waste and have it incinerated. Later, a dumpsite was created at the former Guyana Sports Club Ground, opposite the National Park. For households in other areas, the waste was simply burnt in yards.
Consumption patterns have however radically changed, and a huge amount of garbage is being generated. This created a need for a larger and more modern dumpsite, and in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank, a facility was set-up behind Eccles. Much of the waste being dumped comprises non-biodegradable material, and thus another need has arisen, the need for recycling.
This need was intensified after a great number of plastic bottles and Styrofoam boxes found their way into our drainage canals, blocking the flow of water and causing flooding. There is equally a major problem with waste collection, with the entire coastal belt now in need of waste-collection services.
This has become an urgent need, because it is known that in the absence of adequate waste-collection services, Guyanese are dumping refuse into the Atlantic, into our rivers, and some squatters are dumping their feces into canals. The threat of a major outbreak of an epidemic remains high.
The manner in which solid waste is dumped in Guyana also represents a problem. This waste is not sorted, nor is it recycled.
When the question of the recycling of waste was raised with the government, it was pointed out that investors in waste recycling plants needed far more waste in order to establish a recycling plant. In other words, while we did have a problem, we were not generating sufficient quantities of solid waste to allow for investors to make an investment.
It is known also that there is a facility in Guyana that exports crushed plastic bottles. The bottles are collected, crushed and rolled into sheets and then exported. All of this added to the view that from an economic point of view, there was insufficient local waste generation to attract the establishment of a waste recycling plant.
In this context, the recent announcement by the government that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a company for the recycling of waste has come as something of a surprise. It is also being reported that some US$30 million is likely to be invested in such a facility.
This begs the question as to what has changed. How come the excuse is no longer being made that we do not have enough waste being generated to attract a modern waste-processing facility. What has changed? And what assurances will be given to the public that Guyana will not import solid waste from other countries so as to ensure the viability of any waste-processing plant.
Since Guyanese have historically been opposed to the importation of waste from other countries, it needs to be asked whether this country will also exhibit a similar aversion to the export of unprocessed waste to other countries. What is good for us must be good for other countries. If we do not wish for foreign waste to come here, we should not ever contemplate exporting our waste.
These are important considerations in analyzing the decision of the government to undertake a MOU with a firm for the recycling of waste, because a US$30 M investment would seem to be insufficient to create the type of modern recycling plant that is necessary to generate energy, fertilizers and waste products from the processing of waste.
Or are we simply establishing a waste collection and sorting facility?

 

 

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