The government has reported that an agreement has been made between it and the Dart Group whereby the infamous Mt. Trashmore will be once and for all put out of its repulsive existence.
This action offers the Cayman Islands the opportunity of a lifetime. The occasion to be rid of our greatest eyesore is wonderful, but we should seize this set of circumstances as a means to demand that the new solid waste facility never becomes the monstrosity that we now deal with. Cayman needs to institute a paradigm shift. The dictionary defines this as a change in approach or underlying assumption.
The Dart Group has agreed to cap and remediate the current location and is going to open the new facility. We should use this change to completely change the method that we now use to handle solid waste. All waste contributors, household and industrial, should separate all items for recycling.
A huge number of municipalities around the world are now recycling all solid waste. A number of small businesses are springing up as a result of the effort to make our environment safer and cleaner through the proper handling of the waste material that we generate. The trash that we produce in our daily lives can be transformed into products that can be used to make our lives better instead of creating another polluting eyesore.
As I considered writing this, I searched the Internet for ideas on recycling and reusing waste material.
According to a site called Waste-to-Wealth, sorting and processing recyclables alone can sustain 10 times as many jobs as landfilling or incineration. However, making new products out of the old offers the largest pay-off in the recycling loop.
The current unemployment situation in Cayman could see a real improvement if entrepreneurs were encouraged to use the raw material stream from a recycling facility. Start-up assistance for new business ventures could be a real boon for the economy.
A number of systems are already up and running, in many locations, that can be used as examples.
Equipment is available for small scale paper recycling. One such plant could make enough newsprint to supply the local printing presses and probably have surplus for export.
One system offers the capability of turning waste plastic bags and bottles into landscaping/industrial paver stones. There are any number of processes that use waste drink bottles in remanufacture or reuse. Waste organic materials can be composted on a large scale to create fertilizer and topsoil.
The bottom line is that we can use this opportunity to increase the nation’s bottom line through the recycling and reuse of our trash. Initialization of such a process will no doubt be costly. Those costs and the necessary effort to achieve the proper disposal of our solid waste are well worth the end result.
We can install a landfill that is environmentally friendly and reduce the amount of material that winds up in the facility to a trickle. At the same time, we can open the door for new industry that relieves unemployment, adds to the GDP, and increases government revenue through duties and fees paid by the new industries.
Now is the time for all Caymanians to come to the aid of their country. We must demand a paradigm shift of ourselves and of Government. Take this opportunity to make the change that will affect generations of Caymanians.
Randy Kinsey
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