Compacted plastics at the waste management facility ready for export.
SABA--Saba has exported more than one million US pounds of recyclables in twelve months, from March 2021 until March 2022.
The recyclable materials were exported to the United States and handled at a waste management facility there. Combined with the last shipment of March 2022, a total of 1,013,209 pounds of recyclables were transported off the island in containers.
Plastics
The vast majority of the export, about 70 per cent, was plastics, of which 10 per cent are bottles and caps. The rest, 60 per cent, are miscellaneous plastics. All types of plastic can be recycled as long as they fit in the orange waste container which every household has for the purpose of collecting recyclables.
Cardboard makes up 24 per cent of the amount, which was exported, metal cans about 3 per cent and aluminium cans 1 per cent. Even though 3 and 1 per cent may not seem much, it is still important to separate and recycle these cans to prevent having to burn them. Saba also exports metals on a regular basis. Large metal objects, such as cars and zinc sheets, are exported with bulk shipments.
The recyclable materials (plastics, cans and cardboard) are compressed and placed in large bags or tied together in bundles, and stored in the containers at the waste management facility to await export for further processing.
Expensive
However, exporting recyclables is expensive and yields very little or no profit. In most cases, the sale of the recyclable materials does not yield a sufficient return to counterbalance the cost of shipping. The export of recyclable materials since its start before 2018 has been increasing drastically, and the Public Entity Saba has been struggling with allocating the necessary funding to pay for the export and to cover the structural cost of operating the waste management facility.
Despite considerable investments made over the years at the waste management facility by the local government and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management IenW, there is still a need for more structural funding.
Less burning
Recycling contributes to a better environment. Residents are encouraged to sort recyclable materials at home and deposit these in the orange bin. “We should make recycling a way of life,” said Camilo Usuga, the new Waste Management Manager who is taking over from Coulton Johnson.
Sorting at home and depositing the recyclable materials in the orange bin saves the men at the waste management facility a lot of sorting work. “The better we recycle, the less we have to burn,” said Usuga. As a result of the past and current initiatives, burning the waste has been reduced to once a week.
Aluminium cans are compressed, packed and stored in a container until shipment.
Transition
Over the years, waste management on Saba has transitioned greatly, stated Commissioner of Infrastructure Bruce Zagers. “We have evolved from a scenario where there was absolutely no separation of any waste streams, where everything was being burnt together. Now we export more than one million pounds of recyclable materials per year and burning of only organic waste happens once per week in a controlled manner in a state-of-the-art open-air burner. This is real progress,” he said.
According to the Commissioner, the transition has not been easy. “It took longer than any of us wanted or expected. And we still face considerable challenges such as structural funding for the continuity of the project and the ever-increasing export cost. This transition is still a work in progress as we aim to further improve our processes with the end goal of having a sustainable waste management system,” said Zagers.
Collection
The contents of the waste containers are collected separately at the homes and businesses. There is a pick-up schedule for the black (non-recyclable waste) and orange containers on separate days. The open-back truck collects large items, such as white goods and cardboard, on a regular schedule.
A first Home Chemical Recycling Centre has been installed at Juliana’s Sports Field in The Bottom, where people can dispose of chemical items, such as large batteries, car batteries, paint, light bulbs and small electronics, in a responsible way. A second Home Chemical Recycling Center is coming to Windwardside soon.
