CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has embarked on a new initiative, which will focus on developing and implementing a recyclable plastic waste collection and treatment program in the sub-region.
The St. Lucia-based OECS Commission said the European Union funds the Recycle OECS Project through the Agence Française de Développement.
It said the project’s overall objective is to define and develop a financially self-sustainable plastic waste management model from collection to recycling that can be adapted to the local context of OECS member states in which it is being implemented.
“Plastic pollution is a major problem in the Eastern Caribbean. According to the World Bank report, Marine Pollution in the Caribbean, Not a Minute to Waste, solid waste generated in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR), on average, contains 12% plastic. Additionally, Caribbean data from the beach and coastal clean-ups in 2017 indicate that plastic beverage bottles account for 21 percent of all garbage collected,” the Commission said.
It said that the Recycle OECS initiative would be executed through a joint venture with Seureca, the Consulting, and Engineering division of Veolia, a world leader in optimized resource management such as energy, waste recovery, and recycling, and Unite Caribbean Limited. This development cooperation consulting firm promotes social, environmental, cultural, and economic development through cooperation and regional technical support.
The project will allow for an assessment of relevant initiatives that deal with solid waste management, after that, developing an OECS model system for plastic waste collection and transport, identifying two countries for demonstration of the OECS model system, structuring the collection of all types of plastic in two demonstration countries; and structuring of plastic export chains and processing them in the Caribbean zone.
“The Recycle OECS Project is part of a broader regional initiative with the European Union, which seeks to build on work being done on waste management and the Blue Economy in OECS Member States at the national and regional levels. “
“The OECS groups the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands.
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