Why Waste your Waste??

Dealing with waste

management and recycling
Presented by
Kammie Holder - Volunteer
Counterpart Caribbean @ The Future
Centre
Presentation produced by Nicole
Garofano
 What is waste?
• Waste – There are many definitions:
– Something that is left over because it is
excess of requirements
– Rejected as being useless, unwanted or
worthless
• Collins Paperback English dictionary
– Waste, is an unwanted or undesired material
or substance
• Wikipedia
 Types of waste
• BioDegradable and non
biodegradeable
– ie naturally decomposed or
not
• Includes
– General household waste
– Marine Debris
– Adhoc Littering
– Toxic Waste – commercial and household
– Liquid waste
– EWaste – Technology
– Disused Building Materials
– Of course our own human waste
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste
 In Barbados
• Affliction to all types of previous.
• Waste to Landfill breakdown:
Characterisation of waste in Barbados
1994

Hazardous
Special Wastes
wastes 0.5%
0.1%

Paper 20%
Other 2%

Yard waste
26% Plastics 9%

Glass 5%

Metals 5%
Organic non
yard waste
33%
 And lately?
Characterisation of waste in Barbados
2005
Special Care
Waste 2%
Other wastes 1% Paper and
Construction and paperboard 24%
Demolition waste
6%

Organics 30% Glass 7%

Metal 7%

Textiles 7% Plastic 16%

• Plastics increased by 7% Recent surveys suggest this

split has not changed
• Glass increased by 2% greatly since 2005

• Paper and Card increased by 4%

 3R’s, or is it 4?
• What are they?
• Why are they important, particularly in
today’s lifestyle and in Barbados?
• How can we use these principles?
 Reduce
• Reduction of waste is a choice:
– a choice of product with less packaging
– A choice to reduce the amount of
packaging you accept with your goods
- Buying in bulk reduces overall packaging
– Reduction of plastic bags to avoid
marine life injuries is a great example. Super Centre’s
used 14, 000, 000 plastic bags in 2007 which took
200,000 litres of oil to make. By using reusable
shopping bags, we can reduce the use and save fossil
fuels and turtles at the same time!
Consumers can have a very strong voice
as to what products are put on shelves.
We can choose to support one product
and not another or suggest to buyers for
stores, to try new products
 Reuse
• Reuse what?
• To coin the term “one Man’s trash is another
Man’s treasure”…
– Clothing in good condition
– Books – both for study and general reading
– Furniture
– Some children’s toys
– Some homewares
– Building materials – a large supplier of a lot of
unnecessary fill to landfill sites
– Electronic equipment in decent working order
 Recycle
• In the true sense of the word is to take a used
item and reprocess it into a new product.
• At this time the only product recycled in the true
meaning of recycling, in any large sense is Used
Vegetable Oil… Used to make BioDiesel and
animal feed
• All other products collected for recycling in
Barbados are shipped to offshore locations for
reprocessing.
 Recovery
• The Government of Barbados is
investigating a project of waste to energy
which they are looking to implement
alongside the new Vaucluse Transfer
station. There is no time frame given to
this project, only to say government is
pursuing investigations in this area.
Why use the 4R’s in
Barbados?
This is part of the why!
At least 1000 tonnes per day!
Can this help?
 Additionally…
• Barbados is made of limestone. This natural
filter is only as good as what is on top of the
limestone. More trash, and chemicals, more
damage to Water Supplies
• Aside from Carbon Dioxide, untapped Methane
Gas is one of the worst contributors to
Greenhouse gases (GHG) and as the UN IPCC
found, GHG are the major contributors to
Climate Change… Landfills create Methane as
they decompose. The larger the landfill, the
larger the amount of gas released.
 So what can we do with
‘waste’?
• Sort your waste!
• Start from right in your kitchen
– Separate out compostable goods
– Separate all plastics, anything with a triangle on it 1-5
– Separate tin cans including tins of tomatoes, corn
beef, mixed vegetables, tuna, anything!
– Separate aluminium cans
– Separate your newspapers
– Separate your cardboard boxes
– Separate glass bottles and jars – of any kind
– Even separate and save your vegetable oil!
 In the home,
look at sorting systems
Overseas
examples

http://www.kitchenrecyclebins.com

http://www.greenculture.com

http://www.homerecycling.co.uk/catalogue.php?product_id=180
 Bajan alternatives!

To be found at
Ecolodge – the
home of Andrea and
Composting at Grahame Reeves-
Example of a pail the home of
system in use at the Law
Angela and
Spieler Residence Tony Audin
 What about other waste?
• Look around your home and see what else can
be recycled:
– Car Batteries
– Metals
– Old broken plastic chairs
– Old Aluminium chairs
– Old pails
– Metals lying around
– Electronic Waste – Monitors, TV’s Cell Phones, old
computers
– Even bumpers from old cars!
 Now the big
question….

Where do we send
recyclable
materials??
 Recycling Grid now available
• Main recyclers:
– B’s Bottle Depot
• All Glass, Plastic, Food tins, Aluminium cans, ferrous and non ferrous
metals, bulk card, PVC, Automotive Batteries
– RPI Recycling
• Non Ferrous Metals
– Ace Recycling
• Paper (not newspapers) and magazines, automotive batteries, scrap metal
– Amelot Oil Barbados Ltd (under review)
• Used Vegetable Oil
– Solid Waste Solutions and Services
• Used Vegetable Oil and Glass
– EnviroTech
• All glass, particularly clear
– Machine and Allied Services
• Used Engine Oil
– Caribbean E Waste Management
• TV’s, Monitors, Computer hard drives, keyboards, cables, Cell Phones, other
electrical items
– EarthWorks Pottery
• Newspapers!
 What you don’t have to send
Compostable material!

A number of options are available depending

on the type of biodegradable products
being used:
• Vegetable peelings need to be added to a
closed compost container to deter vermin
etc
• Added to this can be garden waste such
as leaves and lawn clippings
• Also open piles for lawn clippings can be
used, however a controlled environment
works faster.
– Brochures and more information on compost
available.
 An example of the 3R’s at the
• Item
Merrick Household
• Newsprint
• Newspaper Direct
• T.P. and Paper Towel Rolls
• Old clothes, mags, books
• Aluminum drink cans
• PET bottles
• Glass
• Used Cooking Oil
• Organic kitchen waste
• Soup and other tin cans
• Every kind of plastic
• Corks from wine bottles
• Old toys, games, kitchenware
• Grass clippings, leaves
• Old T-shirts
• Car Batteries
• Egg Cartons
•
Foam plates
• large metal such as galvanized
• Paper mistakes from my computer
• Used Car oil
stuff
• Plastic shopping bags
• Cardboard
• Old furniture, bedding
• Old tyres
Goes to_____________________________________
Earthworks Pottery, for packaging shipments
Goes to my friend who voraciously reads all foreign papers
Go to the school for crafts
The school again, for the fair, or other bazaars
RPI in Warrens Industrial Park or B’s Bottle Depot
The easiest thing to recycle in Barbados Kindly
The Future Centre provided by
Oil Recycler, Joe Del Castilho Mrs Vicky
My composter Merrick from
B’s Bottle Depot or The Future Centre an article
B’s Bottle Depot offered to
Crafts members of
Bazaars, garage sales the
My composter Canadian
Rag Bag or give to friends with boats for their Rag Bag!
Women’s
B’s Bottle Depot
Club in April
Brighton or other farmers’ markets
08
Crafts (I don’t keep the ones that held meat, only veggies!)
The metal recyclers everywhere
Chopped up into phone message pads, drawing paper, etc
Some bigger garages. Ask your mechanic. Light and power actually use the
to make our electricity!
I carry market bags and use them to reduce my consumption. Still, when I have
them I reuse them like everybody else, for garbage, doggie droppings and
everything else.
Just started – B’s Bottle Depot (not sure if it’s all grades)
Salvation Army, Women’s’ Shelter, lots of agencies help the poor
Tyre garden at school
 From What to What?
• Plastic is reprocessed into a number of items depending
on the grade of plastic (as following)
• Glass is melted down and made into new glass
containers
• Card is bailed and shipped off to reprocess into new
card
• Paper and magazines also reprocessed into new paper
with recyclable content in Trinidad
• Metals, particularly aluminium, are melted down and
reprocessed. Reprocessing aluminium can save as
much as 59% of the cost of processing newly mined
bauxite due to the temperatures needed to melt the raw
minerals
• Used Vegetable Oil reprocessed into BioDiesel and
added to Animal feeds, here in Barbados
• For more on plastics…
 From what to what?
• Number 1 Plastics
PET or PETE (polyethylene
terephthalate)
Found in: Soft drink, water and beer
bottles; mouthwash bottles; peanut
butter containers; salad dressing and
vegetable oil containers; ovenable
food trays.
Recycled into: Polar fleece, fiber,
tote bags, furniture, carpet, paneling,
straps, (occasionally) new containers
• Recycling rate is approx 20% in the
US but the product is in demand by
remanufacturers

• http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycling-symbols-plastics-460321
 And more?
• Number 2 Plastics
HDPE (high density polyethylene)
Found in: Milk jugs, juice bottles;
bleach, detergent and household
cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles;
motor oil bottles; butter and yogurt
tubs;
Recycled into: Laundry detergent
bottles, oil bottles, pens, recycling
containers, floor tile, drainage pipe,
lumber, benches, doghouses, picnic
tables, fencing
 Really?
• Number 4 Plastics
LDPE (low density polyethylene)
Found in: Squeezable bottles;
tote bags; clothing; furniture; carpet
Recycled into: Trash can liners and cans,
compost bins, shipping envelopes,
paneling, lumber, landscaping ties, floor
tile
 And from here?
• By Incorporating recycling into your home habits, it has been
shown that waste to be collected can be reduced down to some
25% of its former size.
• The 4 R’s currently take some doing in Barbados, however
particularly with recycling, a community effort can prove to be
beneficial for all involved
• Through a sustained effort and raising the amount of items which
are recycled, a precedent will be shown to reflect interest and
gain government support
• Government recognise, through the Solid Waste Project Unit, that
waste sorting is beneficial to the country through the introduction
of the waste transfer station now complete at Vaucluse, St
Thomas. A section of this facility is available to individuals, with
the bulk sorting coming from commercial contractors and
Sanitation Service Authority vehicles.
 For more information:
Come visit the
4R’s Fair
in Independence Square
on Saturday, October 3
from 11.30 – 4.30pm.
Free admission and all recyclers listed will
have a booth to gather more information
on how you can improve the environment
of Barbados!
Bring your telephone directories to be
recycled at the fair too!
 Counterpart Caribbean
@ The Future Centre
Our aim is to continue to raise awareness
of the importance of preserving and
respecting our environment for future
generations
in Barbados and the region.

Nicole Garofano
Counterpart Caribbean
@ The Future Centre
#1 Edgehill
St Thomas
Ph: 425 2020
Email: futurecentre@sunbeach.net
Website: www.counterpartcaribbean.org
 Thank you for your
attention

Questions and discussion

Two quotes to consider:

“When one tugs at a single

thing in nature, he finds it
attached to the rest of the
world.”
John Muir
“We do not inherit the earth from our
fathers, we borrow it from our
children”.
Cree Indian Proverb