At least two recycling plants will be built in the not so distant future, as according to Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green applications have been approved for their development.
Two business entities, one of them being Cevon’s Waste Management, have made applications to the Mayor and City Council to begin operating recycling plants, Chase-Green said. She went on to state that both applications have been approved. Cevon’s Waste Management is currently awaiting land allocation.
These revelations were brought to light during the second workshop held by the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Pro-gramme (GSWMP). The workshop, this time a corporate one, focused on solid waste and how it affects corporate business organisations in Guyana. It will be followed by two more workshops.
Developed for open interaction between the panelists and attendants, discussions lasted more than an hour and allowed representatives from local businesses the opportunity to voice their concerns on solid waste. One concern raised was what could be done by businesses to make the GSWMP’s job easier.
Gordon Gilkes of GSWMP suggested that businesses separate waste before collection.
ccording to Gilkes, 70% of the waste received by the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill (HBSL) is mixed. He also encouraged businesses to start some level of recycling beforehand.
With the rainfall and the inevitable rise in waste associated with the Chris-tmas season right around the corner, Jocelyn Dow, facilitator of the workshops, called on restaurant owners to start a ban on Styrofoam before the impending ban in 2014.
She went on to encourage them to inform and educate their workers on proper waste disposal and differentiating between toxic and bio-hazardous waste.
Business representatives also raised concerns on the misuse of their environmental tax, which they claimed was being paid but not used for the designated purposes.
These purposes include plastic waste management. According to Patricia Bacchus of Caribbean Container Incorporated, businesses are taxed in plastics at a cost of $10 per bottle. She went on to state that though the funds are there, proper mobilization is necessary.
“Stop calling on private enterprises to do the job in isolation or on their own; it is not possible,” she implored.
According to Gilkes, GSWMP is made up of a select committee comprising of a number of private sector organisations.
However, the committee has not met since last year, he said.
