We can find alternative uses for garbage like Styrofoam

Jul 24, 2015 Letters

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Dear Hon. Mayor Hamilton Green,
Your recent statement in the local press calling on the Government to ban the use of Styrofoam, as a means of reducing the volume of garbage, is very notable, however, while Styrofoam, by the very nature of its color –white-, does present an unsightly image in the environment, since its color is very noticeable.
Businesses that will be forced to stop using Styrofoam-made products will not just fold up and drift away. They will use alternative products, which will have the same effect on the environment, that is, garbage accumulation and disposal. The only difference will be half-life of the products.
Scientists use half-life of a substance as a form of measurement. That is, due to the length of time it takes some material to completely decompose to its essential chemical state. Stating half-life tends to simplify the written data. For instance, a ripe banana skin may have a half-life of three months, which means it will completely degrade in about six months. Styrofoam, on the other hand, has a half-life of some 250 years.
This means that the coffee cup one throws in the gutter, will be around for many generations of our descendants to see, and even after 500 years, residue of it will still be there. This is what separates Styrofoam from the rest of most of our garbage. But instead of banning Styrofoam, there is a much better practical and beneficial solution to the problem, which I will get into later.
The disagreement between Guyana’s government and BK International, a company contracted to remove the city’s – Georgetown – garbage, to a landfill called, Haags Bosch, highlights what is seriously becoming an environmental problem of major proportions.
While there are environmental groups and a government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is no real concerted effort to address this problem, before it becomes a major health threat, among other things.
Speaking to the then Director of EPA, some ten years ago, he told me that  EPA works for the Government, and as such, is requested by the appropriate minister to review business’ building plans in order to evaluate their environmental impact. It is in the best interest of the EPA to approve whatever the Government wants, since EPA works for the Government. In effect, EPA was a rubberstamp for the Government, approving whatever building or mining plans brought before it, without consideration of their environmental impact.
Less than fifty years ago, Guyana did not have a garbage problem. Most garbage were either burnt to ash, or buried, in order to rot, with both becoming natural fertilizers. The small amount of non-biodegradable material was either burnt or thrown in a dump site, which it was generally assumed, would never fill up.
Today, not only has the volume of garbage increased exponentially, but the type of garbage has the potential to cause major health problems, as their decomposed chemicals leach into the ground water and soil. My conservative estimate is, there are some 2.2 million cubic meters of garbage deposited in dumpsites all over Guyana.
It is inconceivable for no one not to notice that arable land and land for infrastructure, like homes, is being sacrificed to the altar garbage storage.
There is less of a need for more acreage to make landfills, as there is a need to recycle garbage. Garbage is being recycled in many countries today, and the United States, especially in the state of California, is producing electricity and natural fertilizer, by utilizing organic and inorganic digesters of garbage. In a country like Guyana, this type of electricity production, that is very low cost, would be a much better alternative to costly hydro-electric dams or generators. I must repeat that this is a very low cost procedure, hence it would produce electricity at a much cheaper cost.
The technology is on the Internet!
In regards to Styrofoam, an enterprising small company is recycling Styrofoam into highly compressed blocks, which are then used as foundation for roads etc. The results are spectacular.
There is no need for gravel and sand as foundation. A road bed is excavated, then it is layered with slabs of Styrofoam, whose thickness depends on what is the load-bearing capacity of the road. This is then covered with an asphalt mixture. A maintenance-free life-span is many times greater than the typical road. The slabs are even being used to surface bridges.
Mayor Hamilton Green, I hope you will read this missive and hopefully share it with those in Government, who like yourself, can effect some constructive change.
Albert R. Cumberbatch, Ph.D.

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