6 May 2019
The Waste Management Services (WMS) team have recently started their new Recyclable Waste Collection Service:
Glass, plastic and cans
Glass, plastic and cans disposed of in the recyclable waste side of the Olympic Bins (the side that reads ‘Altogether We Recycle’), located across the Island, are collected and delivered to the Public Recycling Facility at Horse Point Landfill Site (HPLS).
Glass is crushed on-site by Chris Bargo from CNSKB, a private sector partner of WMS. Plastic is stock-piled at HPLS and provided to SHAPE who have started a plastic recycling programme.
CNSKB would also like to recycle cans, which can be compacted/baled and exported as recyclable waste.
Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, commented:
“Recycling is the optimum solution for St Helena to efficiently manage its waste. The more waste we recycle, the longer HPLS will last (currently estimated to be 10 years) as landfilling is reduced. I encourage the public to recycle as much glass, plastic and cans as possible when disposing of litter into the Olympic Bins, ensuring these are correctly disposed of into the recyclable side of the bin.”
Enterprise St Helena has funded a further 30 multi-purpose Olympic Bins and WMS will place more of these bins across the Island including at bus shelters and recreational areas once received. Larger quantities of glass, plastic and can wastes can be recycled by disposing of in red wheelie bins for glass, blue wheelie bins for cans and light grey wheelie bins for plastics. These wheelie bins are located at bars and community centres around the Island and now located along the Jamestown Wharf and seafront area (as mini recycling hubs). The public can also dispose of these recyclable wastes directly into the Public Recycling Facility at HPLS (the site is open 24/7).
Organic (food) waste
The new service will also collect organic (food) waste from business and residents who join a new composting scheme. This scheme is designed to reuse valuable food waste which is unnecessarily landfilled and instead transform it into compost for the benefit of conservation projects such as at the Millennium Forest. Businesses and residents who wish to donate their food waste for composting can join the scheme by contacting Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, on tel: 24724 or email: mike.durnford@sainthelena.gov.sh.
Participants will receive a 25-litre kitchen caddy to store their food waste in prior to weekly collection (or more frequent depending on the volume of food waste to be collected). Collection will involve exchanging filled caddies for an empty and clean caddy for immediate reuse. The food waste will be composted at the Millennium Forest.
Saint Helena National Trust (SHNT) Head of Conservation (Terrestrial), Amy-Jayne Dutton, said:
“We are very happy to be supporting efforts to reduce waste going to the landfill site. Composting will benefit conservation efforts like the Millennium Forest.”
Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, added:
“This is an exciting new scheme being delivered by WMS and SHNT. I especially encourage those businesses who produce a high volume of food waste to participate, but the scheme is inclusive, therefore open to all and is free.”
Notes for Editors
The new Recyclable Waste Collection Service has been developed through collaboration with many stakeholders including the EU-funded OCTA Innovation Project, UK Government (DEFRA) funded Marine Debris Project, Saint Helena National Trust (SHNT), St Helena Active Participation in Enterprise (SHAPE), Enterprise St Helena (ESH) and St Helena Government’s Marine Team.
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SHG
6 May 2019