For an improved environment

Aug 28, 2014 Editorial

Two months ago, the deadline for restricting the importation of Styrofoam containers in Guyana was shifted to a date to be announced. A little over two years prior to that, the government had signaled that it was seeking to curtail the importation of material fashioned from Styrofoam and certain plastics as part of the programme to save the local environment.
Indeed, these materials are non-biodegradable. They will remain on the earth without decomposing and would render that section of the soil good for nothing.
The proposed move by the administration had exposed the country for what it is, a place where the people are caught up in development but are often not ready to cope with the aspects of development.
Cases of such are myriad. Cars came and with them materials that needed to be disposed of in a safe manner. The more the cars came the greater the need to dispose of waste. Oils were often drained from these vehicles and simply dumped into drains and other waterways. This not only polluted the drains and waterways but killed all life.
In the city where there is the greatest concentration of workshops there is the greatest need to dispose of waste material. People did not recognize how widespread was indiscriminate dumping until a thief dived under a bridge and failed to survive. The thief had snatched a woman’s belongings and in his haste to escape pursuit, plunged into a canal and sought to hide under a bridge.
The thief died because he was overpowered by the fumes trapped there because of the dumping of waste oils by a nearby gas station.
People who manage solid waste in the city also complain about the incidence of non-degradable material in the system. Tons of used tyres are simply discarded by the roadside and left there. When these are collected and transported to the dumpsite they will not rot. The result is understandable.
In other countries as development comes there are supporting programmes. Used tyres are shredded and mixed with road building material rather than being left to pollute the environment. In Guyana, the people with the capability to convert used tyres into something appropriate and into something that would not pollute, merely showcase the capability each year at exhibitions.
It is the same with the waste oils. There are many areas where the impact of careless dumping of oil is evident—no grass and an impenetrable sludge.
In the case of Styrofoam and plastics, these are dumped into the waterways, chocking many of them. We have all seen the photographs of garbage choked canals. What many fail to realize is that these canals lead to the rivers and subsequently to the ocean. Such garbage kills marine life.
Increasingly, local producers are turning to plastic because of the weight. It is easier to transport more because of plastic for the same cost. Plastic actually enhances profit, therefore. However, in Guyana, these plastic containers are simply discarded in a haphazard manner.
There have been attempts to convert the plastic material to briquettes for recycling. At least one major entity was prepared to recycle its plastic bottles. It had switched from glass for a variety of reasons. It contended that it was easier to use disposable containers. Another establishment also eyed recycling and with good reason because each of these major companies were required to pay an environmental tax on their imports.
The vendors who use the Styrofoam containers are understandably quiet. They feel that they will be left in the cold, having to invest in some other material. It is unfortunate that the government never seriously pursued recycling. All garbage is placed in a single container and any separation is done by the pickers at the dump site. It is time the issue of recycling is addressed, penalizing those who fail to and rewarding those who do. There will be less non-biodegradable material in the environment.

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