The Next 50 Years - The price of garbage

Published: Friday | December 14, 2012 1 Comment Peter Espeut, Contributor THE WEBSITE of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) reveals that 2,775 tonnes (2,726 tons) of municipal waste is generated daily in Jamaica. This works out on average to be about 1kg (2.2lbs) of garbage created by every person in Jamaica - man, woman, and child - every day. In addition, 5,310 tonnes (5,215 tons) of ship-generated waste arrives every day, and 572 tonnes (562 tons) of industrial waste is produced daily. All this municipal, industrial, and ship-generated waste must be properly disposed of if we are to avoid serious environmental, public health, and social problems, not to mention a dramatic reduction in our quality of life. Of course, we have not avoided any of these: Kingston Harbour is dead, and one legacy we leave is seafloor sludge containing an accumulation of decades of toxic industrial waste which can kill our great-grandchildren; Kingston Harbour is toxic, and fish caught in it are not safe to eat; and the beauty of Jamaica's natural landscape and built environment is spoiled by solid waste strewn almost everywhere. Since colonial days, solid waste in Jamaica has been collected by the Public Cleansing departments of the parish councils - a very expensive and inefficient process. In the 1980s, during the diminution in the number of parish councils, the Government formed five parks and markets companies like Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM), Western Parks and Markets, which it wholly owned. These entities were meant to deal with the collection and disposal of solid waste. The largest of these companies is MPM, since as much as 50 per cent of the solid waste generated in the country is attributed to the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA). The waste-disposal sites in Jamaica are Riverton - KMA; Church Corner - Morant Bay; Doctor's Wood - near Buff Bay; Frontier - near Port Maria; Haddon - near Walkerswood; Tobolski - near Brown's Town; Retirement - Montego Bay; Friendship - near Santa Cruz; Martin's Hill - north of Mandeville; and West Kirkvine - south of Mandeville. Having solid-waste collection and management under five separate entities was also inefficient and fragmented, and in 2001, the National Solid Waste Management Act was passed. It replaced the Anti-Litter Act of 1985. The new act established an agency of the same name - the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) - as the primary body responsible for solidwaste management in Jamaica. The scope of work of the NSWMA is clearly set out in the act under Functions of Authority - 4(1). The first point is to " take all such steps as are necessary for the effective management of solid waste in Jamaica in order to safeguard public health, ensure that the waste is collected, stored, transported, recycled, reused or disposed of, in an environmentally sound manner and promote safety standards in relation to such waste". Jamaica has fairly good environmental laws; our major problem is in the implementation.

At Independence, Jamaica's solid waste was piled on the surface of garbage dumps. We remember the 'Dungle', which used to be in western Kingston. Today, we speak of landfills because the new approach is to dig a massive hole, tip some garbage in, cover it with soil, then tip some more garbage in along with more soil, and so on. Landfills are a vast improvement over dumps, but they are not without their own problems. They are expensive to operate properly: hundreds of truckloads of soil have to be brought in, and heavy earth-moving equipment has to be bought, or hired, to move it around. Dangerous liquids from garbage can leach into the aquifers underneath the landfill, polluting wells downstream, and eventually flowing into the sea, causing marine pollution. When it rains on a landfill, the water percolates through the garbage, dissolving harmful substances on the way to the aquifer, having a similar effect. What is called for are sanitary landfills. Here, the bottom is sealed with some impervious material so that the leachate is impounded. The 2001 National Solid Waste Management Act takes cognizance of the problem. It states 4.-(2): "In performing the functions specified in subsection (1), the Authority may (a) convert existing dumps into sanitary landfills." So no one can accuse successive governments of ignorance of the problem or the solution. What they can be accused of is not making any attempt to do it! Fifty years after Independence we still have dumps, not even unsanitary landfills. Due to "budgetary constraints," very little covering of the garbage with soil has taken place in the last few years. But there is no need for so much solid waste to be deposited in the landfill in the first place. Much of it can be recycled. I guarantee that almost no glass bottles or scrap metal - both of which can be converted into ready cash - are being deposited on the landfill. The workers on the garbage trucks have a keen eye, and all that stuff is taken off and sold. Collection problems There are companies which bale plastic waste and export it. Their problem is collection. Imagine if there was a refundable deposit on plastic bottles. 'Bottle police' would emerge from under every stone, collecting bags and bags of plastic and taking them to collection centres for a refund. Three problems would be solved: less would need to be spent cleaning the streets and other public places of plastic waste - the bottle police would do that job; less would need to be spent on contracting garbage trucks to transport plastic waste - the bottle police would do that job; much less solid waste would end up at the landfill, requiring less soil to cover it, and fewer tractors would be needed to move stuff around. Millions of dollars would be saved in the process! Of course, the deposit would be tacked on to the price of the item, and the householder could return the empties and collect the refund, cutting out the bottle police. At the moment, we have no plastic reprocessing plant in Jamaica, and so once baled, plastic waste may be exported and sold for hard cash. This is an opportunity for the private sector to get involved in solid-waste processing and management. Charging a refundable deposit on plastics can reduce the tonnage of garbage trucked to the landfill. The quantities of other materials which make up solid waste can also be reduced. The technology for recycling paper is well known but is not in commercial use in Jamaica. Some people with

sensitive environmental consciences would prefer to use recycled paper rather than paper made from freshly cut trees. Many people would prefer to buy products whose labels are printed on recycled paper. I would like to see the Government over the next 50 years introduce at least plastic and paper recycling. It fits into the mandate of the NSWMA, as set out under section 4-(2) of the act "In performing the functions specified in subsection (1), the Authority may (d) institute measures to encourage waste reduction and resource recovery". Tax and other incentives should be offered to the private sector to get into this kind of business. In Barbados, vegetable waste - tree cuttings, leaves, etc - are ground into mulch, which is bagged and sold. Construction rubble is pulverised and reused, and old tyres are diced and sold. I have visited their solid-waste processing facility. It is a viable business. In terms of the Human Development Index, Barbados is a First-World country. Are we even trying to catch up? Toxic gases Let's be honest. Over large expanses of Jamaica - rural and urban - household and yard garbage doesn't even get to what we call landfills. It is scraped up and burnt in backyards and street sides, usually in contravention of the Country Fires Act and the Public Health Act. The burning of leaves, plastic, rubber and other man-made materials produces smoke and releases toxic gases. These toxic gases irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, causing breathing difficulties, burning, coughing, nausea, headaches, or dizziness. Smoke can worsen heart conditions and increase breathing difficulties in persons with asthma. Ash from burning can damage the lungs, causing bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer. It also contains toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury. Many people also dump their domestic garbage in rivers and gullies, which is unsightly, but worse, ends up contributing to marine pollution. In the next 50 years, I would like to see this damaging practice of the burning of household garbage reduced to the point of non-existence. And I would like to see all our dumps converted into sanitary landfills. The amount of solid waste generated on ships and landed in Jamaica is quite high. Jamaica has signed and ratified the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78), and there is an obligation to provide adequate reception facilities for all shipborne waste. The convention came into force on June 13, 1991, but 20 years later, Jamaica is yet to have such a facility - even in one port! When we signed and ratified MARPOL, we undertook to provide adequate waste-reception facilities at all commercial ports. Special wastes such as medical waste, tires, and hazardous wastes pose particular problems in Jamaica. The present system of incinerators for medical waste appears plagued by poor design, poor operation, and inadequate and irregular maintenance. The implications for waste handlers and scavengers are grave. Scrap tires in landfills tend to deteriorate very slowly and provide

mosquito breeding grounds. Hazardous waste often ends up at dump sites mixed with other solid waste material because of the absence of hazardous waste dump facilities in the country. I hope we don't wait 50 years to establish a hazardous waste reception facility in Jamaica. Peter Espeut is a sociologist and Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to editor@gleanerjm.com

Environmental management focus on the increase in Jamaica

Published: Friday | December 23, 2011 4 Comments

A breakaway section of Tavern Crescent along the banks of the Hope River in St Andrew, photographed in 2010. - Ian Allen/Photographer

12> A recently published study on the environment has found that over the past three years, there has been an increased focus on improving environmental management in Jamaica. The report suggests that this has been achieved through activities such as creating new standards, policies and regulations (and enforcing existing ones); increased environmental monitoring; and raising greater awareness among citizens and stakeholders. The State of the Environment Report (SoE) 2010, which was launched in collaboration with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the United Nations Development Programme, is the first such report published in Jamaica since 2001. It posits that between 2008 and 2010, the overall status of Jamaica's ecosystems and natural resources has remained fairly constant. The report further highlights that during that time, key elements of biodiversity - species and ecosystems, including watersheds, forests, coral reefs and other marine areas - have remained at the same state in general.

The amount of protected land and marine areas has remained the same, 18 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively, for the past three years, although there were new fish sanctuaries declared in 2009 and 2010, the report says. There have also been changes in management activities; for example, the number of prosecutions under the Wild Life Protection Act has increased, moving from three in 2008 to eight in 2009 and 10 prosecutions in 2010. In fact, the study highlights that the number of enforcement actions increased in all areas. The quality of air, coastal and riverine water quality remained relatively constant at 75 per cent over the assessed time frame. The study, however, highlights an apparent increase in the percentage of river sites meeting nutrient standards to 72 per cent in 2010, a 13 per cent increase over the 59 per cent in 2009. There were also reductions in the amount of solid waste generated from residential sources, from 845,896 tonnes in 2008 to 821,903 tonnes in 2009, and 762,623 tonnes in 2010. The country also exported 4,000 metric tonnes of hazardous waste in 2010, a decline from the 5,000 metric tonnes that was exported in 2009 and 8,000 metric tonnes in 2008. The report suggests that this reduction could be attributed to increased focus on waste reduction efforts. Renewable energy Turning to energy, the study shows that the portion of Jamaica's energy mix that comes from renewable energy almost doubled from five per cent in 2008 to nine per cent in 2010, noting that this increase demonstrates a stronger focus on reducing the country's use of imported petroleum and on developing alternative energy. Acting Director, Planning, Policy, Evaluation and Research, NEPA, Anthony McKenzie, said the SoE is expected to be used as a tool to gauge the country's progress with respect to sustainable management of the country's natural and physical environment, in support of achieving Goal Three as set out in Vision 2030 - 'Jamaica as a healthy and natural environment.' He said that while there were many positives, the report also highlights a number of troubling trends that need urgent attention, including the state of the country's watersheds, coastal resources, and water quality. In terms of Jamaica's watersheds, the report identifies some key pressure areas, such as poor agricultural practices, improper land usage (squatting), disposal of solid waste, the issue of illegal logging and the impact of storm events. "There are 26 watershed units in Jamaica; however, the reality now is that there are four of these units which are considered severely degraded," he said. These include the Rio Minho in Clarendon, Wag Water in St Mary, Yallahs River in St Thomas and Hope River in St Andrew.

The report also names five other systems which are considered degraded - the Rio Cobre, Morant River, Rio Grande, Swift River, and the Pencar-Buff Bay River. The remaining watersheds are said to be experiencing a relatively lower level of degradation and are either considered less degraded or least degraded. The report contends that watershed health may have been attributed to various land use activities continuously driven by the socio-economic pressures of communities. Jamaica has various plans, programmes and policies in place to maintain and protect the country's forests and watersheds, the report informs. "Jamaica is signatory tothe major international environmental agreements that address forest and watershed issues," it states. The Forestry Department has also been implementing a range of actions geared towards sustainable forestry. These include ongoing forest inventory to generate information/data; four draft Local Forest Management Plans developed, using inventory information; the provision of a tax incentive; and increased vigilance to reduce forest loss and infringements. With regard to Jamaica's coastal resources, the study shows that the beaches on the south-west to west coast are suffering and are showing mild to chronic levels of beach erosion, with Negril being a major example. "The beaches on the east and north-east coast are relatively stable," he said. The study asserts that in addition to sea level rise and the impact of storms, anthropogenic activities, such as coastal development and direct human uses, mainly associated with recreation, are putting the country's beaches under increasing pressure. In addition, McKenzie noted that the country's riverine water quality also shows cause for concern. "On average, 41 per cent of the water quality sites show a decrease in water quality for the period 2007 to 2010, when compared to the period 2003 to 2006," he informed. In response to the report, Chang said although Jamaica has made substantial improvements in environmental management, many challenges still remain, which must be addressed, particularly as the country strives to achieve continued economic growth. Main challenges He asserted that among the country's main challenges is the need to adjust to the impacts of climate change and to carry out "no regrets mitigation actions to reduce our emission of green house gases". Chang further noteed that among the priority areas for the government is to build the country's awareness and capacity to manage chemicals and waste in a sound manner. "Much work is still needed in educating Jamaicans on the risks associated with chemicals, particularly hazardous chemicals, and safety precautions to be taken to reduce their level of exposure," he stated.

He said that there was also an urgent need to obtain further information on chemicals, such as mercury and asbestos, within the Jamaican context, in order to formulate the appropriate environmental and public-health policies and programmes to minimise the public's risk of exposure. Chang also informed that the fastest growing waste treatment was electrical and electronic, noting that this was undoubtedly associated with the age of information. In this regard, he said the government intends to develop and implement, in the near future, a national programme for environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic waste. "To support this programme, a public education awareness campaign will be introduced, which will facilitate the dissemination of information or e-waste. Also, importers will be encouraged to supply environmentally friendly electrical products for the local market," he said. Chief Executive Officer, NEPA, Peter Knight, said that while he was pleased with some aspects of the report, particularly as it relates to environmental management, he was not satisfied with a number of the current trends. "Although we have made substantial improvements in environmental management, this report shows that many challenges still remain and need to be addressed," he said. Worrying trends He points out that much of the data presented in the study show that there still exists many worrying trends. Among these are deteriorating air and water quality, poor management of solid, liquid and hazardous waste, loss of biodiversity, watershed degradation, and net loss of forest cover. "It is true that in 2010, Jamaica's ranking in terms of environmental performance, as measured by the Environmental Performance Index, dropped by 20 points, placing the country at 89 out of 163 countries, indicating that the country's environmental performance has fallen," he said. Jamaica ranked 54 of 149 countries and was the best in terms of environmental performance in the English-speaking Caribbean. In 2010, the country ranked 22 in the Americas. This drop reflects the need for more focused attention, as well as targeted development and implementation of programmes in areas such as ecosystem and biodiversity management. There is also a clear need to strengthen existing legislation and pass new ones to address current and emerging environmental issues and challenges. Knight said the SoE serves as a positive step towards improving Jamaica's environmental performance, noting that the study is the first in a series of reports that NEPA will present to the public every three years to ensure that the programmes and projects being implemented are contributing to improvements in the state of the natural environment.

He said the report will also help stakeholders to evaluate Jamaica's progress against Millennium Development Goal number seven - to ensure environmental sustainability. Improving the state of the Jamaican environment requires collaborative arrangement and partnership of the State and civil society. The many complexities and unique features of the Jamaican environment require a focus on strategies that can be utilised to ensure that the country's development objectives are compatible with the natural environment and in keeping with the tenets of sustainable development, Knight said. - JIS

Fishing in garbage... literally!

Waste dumped at sea threatening fishermen's livelihood
BY CASSANDRA BRENTON Associate Editor Investigative Coverage Unit icu@jamaicaobserver.com Sunday, October 03, 2010

This man (at left) looks on as Lenny (centre) and his nephew Kevin display their meagre catch. (Photos: Cassandra Brenton) MARK Taylor barely scraped a couple hundred dollars together to purchase gas to take him a few miles out to sea and back, but he was confident that he could at least recoup the money. The fish were biting, and he was looking forward to catching "some very large snappers".

After more than an hour at sea, he caught more than he had bargained for. "When I felt the weight, I got really excited," Taylor recalled. "But when mi pull it in and look, nuh one large, black plastic bag full a pure garbage; mi was so vex," he told the Sunday Observer two Tuesdays ago. Taylor, who has more than 30 years experience, said it had become commonplace for fishermen to haul garbage from the ocean. "A pure garbage out there. Jamaicans refuse to stop dump them rubbish in the gullies, rivers and the sea, and it is hurting us," Taylor said. An informal Sunday Observer poll conducted two weeks ago among 35 fishermen in Kingston, Port Royal, Old Harbour, St Catherine and Clarendon showed that the majority of them had come to accept marine litter as a way of life, even if it posed a threat to their livelihoods. Marine litter, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, is "any persistent, manufactured or processed solid material, disposed of, or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment". This poses not only a potential risk to human health, but may also affect fish, turtles and birds who ingest material such as plastic, or become entangled in debris. Lenny, a 51-year-old fisherman at the Old Harbour Bay Fishing Village in St Catherine, is angered by the presence of debris, but said there was very little members of the fishing community could do as "a lot" of the litter came from the gullies. According to a 2005 report titled, Marine Debris: Jamaica's Response, the Kingston Harbour "receives a considerable amount of solid waste that is discharged into the bay via 15 major gullies and waterways". This report, which was presented at the sixth meeting of the UN Open Ended Informal Consultative on Oceans and the Law of the Seas, also pointed out that while "each Jamaican generated 1kg (2 lbs) of waste per day," only 70 per cent was collected by the National Solid Waste Management Authority while the remaining 30 per cent was "either burnt or disposed of in gullies or waterways". "We just have to find a way around the garbage," Lenny said last week. "When you are out on the seas, you will see plastic bottles and pieces of boards floating by, and sometimes things will get caught in your net, but you just throw them out and move." Daniel Lecky, 35, has been fishing since he was 14 years old and has encountered similar problems over the years. But an even bigger problem for Lecky is the fact that in the last few years he has had to venture further out to sea in search of fish.

"The last time I went out to sea I only caught 10 pounds of fish, and that can't pay for the gas, which cost me $4,500. But what else can I do? I can't give up," Lecky said. "The fish dem a disappear," concluded one young fisherman, who declined to give his name. He was seated among a group of men at the Old Harbour Bay Fishing Village. "Out pon the sea stay bad; even the young fish dem dying out because of the pollution from the raw sewage that them let out into the sea and from the garbage that wash out from the gullies," he said. The young man was, however, quick to point out that most fishermen did not venture into the polluted areas. "We learning about the environment, and we don't fish in those waters, we go far out for our food," he said. F A Marsden, 66, said he has been fishing for half-a-century and he feels pollution "is the number one" factor affecting the fish population. He has strong support from Almond Hamilton, a member of the Rocky Point Fishermen Co-operative. "The mangroves are degrading because of pollution," he told the Sunday Observer. Marsden noted that a lot of the reefs were abandoned. "No fish can live there because of the pollution," said Marsden, who is based at Old Harbour Bay. "You also have acid back-up into the sea. Sometimes all yuh net full a oil, and you get no compensation from the people polluting it." "And the garbage, don't even bother mention that because it stay bad," he continued. "Sometimes you encounter all plastic bags full a garbage; some of it inshore or offshore, but mostly inshore." He also told the Sunday Observer that plastic bags occasionally got entangled in his propeller, hindering his progress at sea. "Whenever this happens I have to stop, lift up the engine and use my cutlass to cut off the curro-curro (garbage)," he explained. Marsden's colleague Joslyn Shaw, who is also based at Old Harbour Bay, echoed similar sentiments. "We have to do something about the garbage," he insisted. But Roy Montague, who has had his "fishing licence" since 1973, pointed out that the problem has been around "forever". "A long time that de problem deh 'round, but perhaps it has gotten worse," Montague noted. Horace Beckford, who like Montague is from Welcome Beach in Clarendon, had no doubt that the problem had worsened. "The shores are badly in need of cleaning. There is just too much plastic and

rubber slippers washing up all over the place," he said, also pointing out that "sometimes these things tangle up in the nets and propellers". 'Althy' experienced this first-hand as recent as two Wednesdays ago. "The garbage a mess mi up bad, man," he said, pointing to his net which had become entangled in pieces of metal wires. "Sometimes the plastic bag all tie up mi net," he added. When the Sunday Observer spoke with 'Althy' two Thursdays ago at the Gun Boat Beach in Kingston, he said that was his second day "stranded" at the location. He said that because of the poor condition of his boat he never ventures to "big beaches" and was just waiting for the "wind to pick up" so that he could safely make his way to his base at "nearby Chiney Beach". 'One Son' knows a thing or two about being stalled a sea. The Port Royal fisherman told the Sunday Observer that on numerous occasions plastic had become entangled in his propeller, forcing him to waste valuable time trying to detangle the mess. "You see when the plastic wrap around the propeller, it feels like it want burn up the engine. When this happen I get vex, because I have to stop and wait for the engine to cool before I can go about my business," he said. Additionally, because 'One Son' uses a hook and line to fish, he said at times he was forced to stop and allow the garbage to "float on by" before carrying on with his trade. For Steve Scott, "plastic is the worse thing ever invented". The Port Royal fisherman argued that the material was having a negative impact on the environment. "I wish the Government could cut out the plastic bottles, the plastic cups and the plastic bags," he said. Scott, too, also singled out plastic bags as being "the most dangerous" because they float on water and "tie up you something dem all the while". Lloyd Reynolds from the Greenwhich Town Fishing Beach would love to see a return to the days when many Jamaicans carried their groceries in paper bags, thus eliminating the need for plastic bags. "The plastic bags not good for the fish or the environment, plus them will mash up yu engine and choke up yu net. A whole heap a time me have to stop a sea and pick plastic out of my engine," he said. And as if this was not bad enough, Reynolds pointed out, raw sewage was "once again" being released into the sea. "It had stopped flowing there, but started again three months ago," he told the Sunday Observer. Reynolds' companion, Delroy Jackson, nodded his agreement without looking up from his task of repairing a net.

"The environment needs a lot of help," said fish vendor Mark Cunningham, who operates out of Rocky Point, Clarendon. He suggested that as a start, the relevant authorities must put in place proper facilities at that fishing beach, such as standpipes, dumping facilities, trees and proper management, which would impact positively on the environment. "I am not satisfied with the development that has taken place here," he said, conceding that some work had started at Old Harbour Bay. "I've seen the work that has started there, and I like it, but they must extend it here." Like Cunningham, fish vendor Patricia Charlton would also like to see some repair work get underway at the Greenwhich Town Fishing Beach in Kingston. As a start, however, she had one simple request: "The garbage trucks don't come on the beach to collect the rubbish, and we would like for them to come inside here and help us to keep the place clean." September 25 was celebrated as International Coastal Clean-up Day, and even though Cunningham's beach was not on the official list of sites slated for cleaning, perhaps her wish will be granted in the near future. Last year, 1,750 Jamaicans turned out to help rid the beaches of debris during International Coastal Clean-up Day. The previous year, 270 volunteers removed 3,412.2 kg of trash and debris from approximately 1,112.6 km of shoreline, according to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). Globally, 498,818 volunteers removed 7.4 million pounds of debris in 108 countries in 2009, according to a 2010 report by Ocean Conservancy.