Dear Editor,
I read with great interest the article “New advances in sorting and waste management shown to the media” in the 31 October 2024 digital issue. I believe the new system will help increase voluntary recycling on the island, especially among visitors who are used to recycling at home and wish to recycle while visiting the island.
Our family has been visiting St. Maarten regularly since 2006 and we consider it our “Home Away From Home.” There are many differences between Home and Away but for us one of the most difficult to get used to has been not recycling our used bottles, cans, papers, and such.
On our recent trip the week of October 20 I was able to locate on the Internet a drop-off location near where we were staying, quite near the border on the eastern side of the island. We happily toted our week’s worth of bottles, cans, and newspapers to the location, parked, and approached the large bins.
Unfortunately, the bins are not labeled as to which waste items go into which bins. l could make a guess about the glass based on the broken glass on the ground around the base of the bins, but at this particular location there was no information to help me (in either French or English) place the waste where it belonged. It was the first attempt at recycling and quite discouraging. As we were preparing to leave the next day we didn’t have the time to spend trying to locate another bin nearby and the list we were using was from 2018. We did the best we could.
The new system will benefit us as we stay very close to St. Martin, but perhaps if it works well it will be duplicated in St. Maarten. We’re appreciative and hopeful at the same time. Thank you.
Robin Apostolik
Colorado, USA/Oyster Bay Beach Resort
