AND please cut story to following:

WITH BARBADIANS generating 1 000 tonnes of garbage a day, the new $60 million recycling centre at Vaucluse is set to relieve some of the load from the landfills.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the new Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre Inc. (SBRC) at its St Thomas base Wednesday afternoon, Minister of the Environment, Water Resources and Drainage Dr Denis Lowe said the joint venture between Government and Williams Industries was a "magnificent facility".

"Prosperity has come at a steep price and we as a people presently generate 1 000 tonnes of waste per day, which is more than three times the amount we generated back in 1993. This sudden surge in waste generation has placed considerable pressures on life expectancy of landfills," he told invited guests at the ceremony.

The SBRC, which is predicated on minimising waste and using it as a resource, sets out the entire policy framework for an efficient solid waste management programme. It includes a transfer station, materials recovery and composting facilities, and a chemical waste storage plant. It is set to become the new solid waste management nucleus for Barbados.

The centre has the capacity to process 300 tonnes of solid waste per day. General manger Tony Parris said that come monthend, it would have full capacity to treat the daily 1 000 tonnage generated by residents and visitors.

"It is envisaged that the full operation of this entity will be of great assistance to the island by allowing for approximately 65 per cent of the entire waste stream to be diverted away from landfilling and allow for the recovery of significant volumes of valuable recyclables such as paper, plastic and metal, and the production of other materials, including compost, aggregates and mulch which would be most welcomed by those with a strong interest in agricultural and horticultural production," Lowe said.

The emphasis on converting solid waste into valuable natural resources has been heightened within the last year as prices for light sweet crude oil had skyrocketed to US$147 last July.

While it now stands at US$68 a barrel, the international community has been placing greater emphasis on sustainable energy source.

"Solid waste is now considered a valuable resource from which energy can be recovered and not merely seen as a process of carting material off to be landfilled” commented Lowe.

by MICHELLE SPRINGER