Talking trash

We were struck very soon after we arrived in Barbados by the apparent absence of recycling of household waste, in an island that seems to have moved well ahead in some other environmental areas, and has a long history of using renewable energy (see link about renewable energy scenarios). Barbados had windmills in the 1700s, after the introduction of sugar production, and now has most houses and buildings fitted with solar panels for water heating. In 1980, when the late Prime Minister Tom Adams introduced the Homeowners Tax Benefit which allowed the homeowner to claim the cost of the solar water heater against income taxes, the industry received a major boost. The government of Barbados would like to have renewable energy contribute 40% of the island's primary energy by 2010, from some 15-20% now.

We have lived many years in the UK and US, and accepted the need to separate all forms of household waste: recyclables (glass, plastic, paper, aluminium cans, cardboard, garden trash); food scraps; hazardous waste (like car batteries) could be collected separately. So, we feel very uncomfortable filling trash bags with things that we know can be recycled.

I understand from discussions with some in the hotel industry that there is a well-developed system for recycling drinks bottles, where the volumes are of course considerable. Nevertheless, one of Barbados' controversial subjects in recent years involved plans to use a landfill in the inappropriately named area of "Greenland", in St. Lucy parish. (Someone mentioned to me recently, with shock, that Barbados was due to ship its rubbish to Greenland, thinking that boatloads of Bajan trash would be heading north to Europe.)

I was pleased to find that there are measures in place (at supermarkets) to recycle mainly glass and plastic drinks bottles back to local producers, such as Banks Breweries; there's a refund on each bottle. A private company, B's Bottle Depot, will take for cash any form of plastic bottling, plus glass drinks bottles from local companies, as well as aluminium cans.They collect from homes. The company wants to expand to take all forms of glass, which would be shipped to Trinidad, but the market price for the product is very low and that business has stalled. They are based in St. Thomas and want to expand into recycling cardboard, but await planning permission to build the needed extension.

As a contrast, I noted today on the BBC website that the UK government is due to introduce a trash charge. English municipalities would get powers to charge for rubbish and "give rewards in cash" for those who recycle. The government also announced a clampdown on junk mail, excess packaging and plastic shopping bags in a bid to meet tough EU landfill waste reduction targets.

Barbados has many models in Europe and North America it can follow on how to organize recycling. The government's Solid Waste Unit has recently had a series of workshops to raise awareness of the needs and possibilities for recycling. Let's see if things change soon on the ground.