All Barbadians can contribute immediately to reducing costs and improve Barbados earning capacity. Socio-Environomic policies must be instituted to engage everyone in more creative endeavors, innovative thinking and resourceful practices. We are all consumers and ALL should be part of the REgeneration.

SBRC has equipment and is paid under minimum contract to chip and convert coconut shells and other biodegradable items into valuable soil amendments / mulch. This should be used for agricultural remediation that would enhance local food security, saving precious foreign exchange otherwise used to import chemical fertilizers and processed foods. These in turn negatively affect health and wellness, contaminate scarce groundwater and damage nearshore reefs. 

Existing government policy lends to vendors dumping used shells around the countryside, with potential for breeding mosquitos. Householders put out “green” waste separately only to have it blended in scarce SSA compactors only to take up expensive landfill space.

Please urgently have the tipping fee waived on organic and other items which are separated for recycling, even if it means doubling the fee for mixed garbage. Collection of organics and items for recycling should be contracted to private haulers, by the ton, so that these can be processed by recyclers to save / earn valuable foreign exchange.

We would be interested in working with suitable financiers to secure the means for qualified SSA operators to purchase suitable equipment for separate collection of various “waste” types. There is no reason why GOB could not seek to reduce costs through privatizing collection and realize an income stream from the sale of separated items to recyclers instead of from a tipping fee on mixed garbage.

Look forward to meeting with the relevant government department to discuss further possibilities for Barbados to light the way and be a fully green society by 2020.

Andrew Simpson

Envirotech Inc.

Director