MARIGOT:--- A number of schools visited the recycling facilities in Galis Bay to mark Sustainable Development Week last week where the director of Eco Emballage was present. St. Maarten's ambassador Nicole Piper has been encouraging residents on St. Martin to begin changing their ways if they are to fully safeguard the environment. A symposium is scheduled to take place this Thursday April 22 2010 (Earth Day) at the Sandy Ground Culture Centre. Piper has been meeting with the various community councils to inform them on the environmental campaign under way. In an interview with SMN News Piper said, her mission is to get each and every household aware of how to sort and dispose of their waste properly.
Piper said residents should begin sorting at home by using small marked or coloured bins to separate waste materials, while she reminded that portable composters, with instructions for use by the public, are available free of charge from the Department of the Environment. Sorting and separating at home first can reduce the number of trips per month to the Galis Bay recycling facility, she said.
In an interview with SMN News, Piper said part of her mission was to go "door to door" in remote hillside communities to spread awareness on responsible waste disposal.
"We have to remember it's inconvenient for these communities to bring their waste down the hill so there's tendency for random dumps to spring up in the hills," she said. "This is a sector where we have to get the message across to try and get the community to work together. Not only that you have certain nationalities that in their culture do things differently but we have to insist this is the way we do it here."
"Our hope is the representatives of the Councils who are close to the population in their districts will get the message across to make it happen," she added. "The Councils are very important and they must lead the way on this. It also gives me an opportunity to find out what problems exist with each Council. You can't instruct someone about how to dispose of garbage if they have some other problems affecting their daily life. People are more receptive if they are in relative comfort."
St. Martin is continuing its awareness programme and scheduled activities until April 20. School children have been transported by bus in two morning and afternoon rotations. The last visits took place last Friday.
Manager of the eco-waste facility in Grand Cayes, Jean-Pierre Tey, gave a brief of overview of the facility's day to day operation, now four years on since its inception in May 2006. He noted as more waste is delivered, more land is needed to accommodate it and Société Verde is seeking to acquire more land for expansion. The landfill has two distinct areas of operation; the processing of domestic waste and the sorting of commercial and industrial waste for re-cycling.
Domestic waste is processed using the non-invasive, non-polluting, Mechanical-Biological Waste Treatment (MBWT) method of composting on giant beds that are irrigated and aerated.
The facility has some 120 regular clients and around 1,400 trucks deposit waste there every month, Tey noted. A total of 17,000 tons of domestic waste is processed each year and 33,000 tons of other miscellaneous waste or materials.
Also present on island is Pascal Gislais, Eco-Emballages's International Development Director for Overseas Departments. Some 47,000 French companies, including Société Verde, are under contract to this private company sanctioned by the French Government that specialises in recycling. In return Eco-Emballages dispenses some 500-million euros to Collectivités to fund and organise recycling programmes.
"The European directive on waste management includes a directive on waste packaging to be recycled," explained Gislais. "In France Eco-Emballages was created by all the packers and fillers who have to follow the law and they pay a certain amount to us and that money is passed on to finance local authorities who are in charge of waste management. We don't make money out of it, just what is needed to recycle."
In St. Martin, Société Verde recycles glass on site in a crusher to produce glass ends and gravel for roads. Most other separated products for recycling are sent to mainland France to paper mills, plastic recycling plants, etc. Eco-Emballages's contract with Verde is for glass crushing and recycling while the Collectivité is paid for collections and sorting. In essence the more tonnage that can be sorted, the more subventions the Collectivité receives.
"It's important that people understand the value of their rubbish is equal to the value of money," Piper added.
At the symposium, this Thursday the themes include biodiversity, agriculture and rural development, mangrove protection, preserving natural heritage, and the benefits of sorting waste.
An exhibition on the environment will be held simultaneously in the parking area of the Cultural Center.
PROGRAMME
1ére édition
des ASSISES DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT ET DU DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE.
- Jeudi 22 avril 2010 -
- 08h30 à 12H00 FORUMS DES EXPOSANTS.
Exposition de stands informatifs, de peintures et de photographies. - 08h45 à 9h30 Rassemblement, enregistrement
et petit déjeuner ; - 09h30 à 10h00 Allocutions Officielles
- Vice-président, M. ALIOTTI Pierre en Charge du Pôle DEVELOPPEMNT DURABLE,
Le Président du Conseil Territorial, M. GUMBS Frantz,
Le Sénateur, M. FLEMING Constant,
Le Préfet Délégué des Iles du Nord, M. SIMONNET Jacques. - 10h00 à 12h00 Déroulement des assises.
(Avec une pause de 10 minutes vers 11h15). - Les Intervenants et les thèmes d'intervention
Monsieur Allen FAUTRA
Directeur de la Société ESPACES SERVICES
Thème s/ Qu'est-ce que la biodiversité ?
What is biodiversity?
Monsieur Elie TOUZE & Monsieur Alfred FLANDERS
Agent de Développement Agricole et Rural.
C.O.M.
Thème s/ Les défis de l'agriculture et du développement durable.
The challenges of agriculture and sustainable development.
Madame Julie LARGUIER
Stagiaire en fin d'études –
Masters Biodiversité et Développement du Durable
RESERVE NATURELLE
Thème s/ La mangrove.
The Mangroves
Monsieur Christophe HENOCQ
Directeur du MUSEE DE SAINT-MARTIN
MUSEE DE SAINT-MARTIN
Thème s/ La préservation de nos patrimoines naturels.
Preserving our natural heritage - Madame Cynthia CAROUPANAPOULLE
Conseil d'Architecture d'Urbanisme et de l'Environnement.
CAUE
Thème s/ Habitat bio climatique en contexte insulaire tropical
Habitat bio climate in tropical island environment - Martine ZOROBABEL DUREL
Responsable Commercial Antilles
CITEC Environnement
Thème s/ Le bénéfice du Tri Sélectif pour la Biodiversité.
The benefits of waste sorting for Biodiversity. - LECONTE Pierre
Adjoint au Chef de service des Territoires de la Mer et du Développement Durable
De la Préfecture de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin.
Préfecture de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin
Thème s/ Stratégie Nationale sur la Biodiversité.
National Strategy on Biodiversity. - 12h00 REMERCIEMENTS.
Ambassadrice de tri, Melle PIPER Nicole.