Recycling is being touted as a new approach to Solid Waste Management by the Mayor andM&CC Public Relations Officer, Royston KingCity Councillors of Georgetown (M&CC), an undertaking which is expected to be swiftly introduced in the New Year. According to Public Relations Officer, Royston King, this strategic move is geared at helping to address the challenge of waste disposal currently facing the city entity.It has been some time now that the Municipality has been considering the new approach, King said, even as he pointed out that “in the area of solid waste management, we have been looking at alternative approaches to garbage disposal.” Among the areas of consideration is that of the conversion of waste to organic fertilizer/manure, which could see the Municipality procuring a mulcher in order to deal with waste originating from trees.This entails the trimming of trees and packaging of same which can be purchased by citizens for gardening purposes. This strategic move, King said, is also likely to help the Municipality to earn much needed revenue.He said too that the Solid Waste Management Department is likely to get involved in the provision of animal foods also from the waste products that are accumulated in the market, which could also be another revenue earner. The effort by the Municipality is also expected to include the recycling of plastic bottles and will not be limited to cardboards, King said, adding that “we are looking at alternative ways of disposing of our garbage so that we can have a savings and at the same time generate new money…” He revealed too that employing these strategic moves are essential as when the municipal operators go to the Haags Bosch landfill site “we also have to pay tipping fees. When our contractors pay tipping fees, that is passed on to us and in turn passes onto citizens. If we can reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill site then we will reduce the amount of money we pay and at the same time generate new money when we look at alternative ways to deal with waste.”The ambitious alternative to disposal, according to King, is more than possible, as needed facilities and materials are already available to the Municipality. He explained that at the moment, the Municipality’s recycling efforts will simply involve the collection and partial recycling and not the actual processing of waste materials.The Municipality is contemplating kicking off its efforts at the Bourda Market by re-assuming the garbage collection process. Currently, the privately owned Waste Disposal Firm, Cevon’s Waste Management, is fulfilling that mandate. According to King, the Municipality has been looking at the practicality of engaging a pilot recycling project at the city market, a move which is expected to “help us generate much needed revenue and at the same time keep a much cleaner city.”It was just recently too that King revealed municipal plans to become fully self-sufficient at garbage disposal in light of an already greater demand on the resources of the city entity. Recently the garbage disposal service in several communities, including areas in North and South Ruimveldt, East La Penitence and Tucville, were affected as a result of the unavailability of trucks operated by the same disposal contractor. This resulted in garbage not being picked up in the South Georgetown areas over recent weeks.According to King, reports from the contracted firm is that some of its trucks are under repairs, a situation which resulted in the Municipality having to use its own trucks and manpower to work in the affected area to bring relief to the affected residents.Prior to this dilemma, the Municipality had been collecting garbage in some areas such as Cummingsburg. This was possible, King said, after the Municipality was able to procure four garbage trucks and received a fifth, which was donated by Central Government. The fleet of five trucks, King said, was being used to collect from both North and South Cummingsburg, Georgetown but the efforts were supported by private contractors – Puran Brothers’ Disposal Service and Cevon’s Waste Management. Catering to the entire Cummingsburg area was in fact a strategic move on the part of the Municipality, King said,Cheap Jerseys, to incrementally reclaim the responsibility of garbage collection in various parts of the city. “While this was intended to be a pilot arrangement, it was intended to get us to that state of collecting our own garbage throughout the city,” King asserted.
