Recycling

[Russell]

Plastic water bottles are the purest form of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET).
This is the base product of Dacron Sails, polyester clothing , and so many more plastic products we as consumers have embraced over the decades. Natural fibers have taken a back seat to synthetics.
OK. now several international companies are buying recycled PET (beverage bottles) to produce an extremely tough building material. It is used as a core in what is known as ''Sandwich Panel Construction'' look it up!

The core is also recyclable .
I have designed and built ocean going commercial vessels using the Sandwich Core Construction methodology.
The benefits to the owner were tremendous in terms of operational economics and very low maintenance.

This year one of my associate companies have designed an Advances Composite housing panel. based upon the strength of the vessels this product could easily sustain a Category 5 hurricane. All this was proven through trials and in concert with the Canadian National Research Council ... Industrial Research Assistance Program.

The Belgium compant Armacell International have been producing PET foam core since 2011; and for the past year have been producing the product in Brampton Ontario Canada.... They also have a cutting operation in North Carolina.

So someone out there is doing something to address the plastic bottle waste issue.
However as busy as they are, they only consume .5% of the available PET in Europe.

In Trinidad Tobago they produce about 250,000 tons of PET waste a year.
In Barbados they recycle PET into roofing slates (an European roofing shingle).

Opportunities to use this product is as large as ones imagination.

DR must produce at least 5 times the amount of PET as Trinidad Tobago.

There are opportunities to do something about the PET issue; just need more knowledgeable , younger entrepreneurs .
The Barbados Project was funded by the Banks Beer Company... now privately owned.

Enough talking, some one much younger than old gaffers like myself need to step up to the plate.

OH well! I have said enough ; time for my warm milk and massage.
Russell

 

[irishpaddy]

Yes, those twists can be quite irritating when trying to retrieve an item in a hurry from your shopping bags. As an example, toilet tissue. That aside, there is a justification to the process, as the majority of Dominicans (as we know) travel with a motoconcho or their own pasola. It's much easier for transport purposes when the bags possess the ever present constrictor knots. As a remedy, you can always elect to fill, load,and secure your own parcels. I always find this to be the ideal scenario.

and put the poor bag boys out of work

 

[Caonabo]

and put the poor bag boys out of work

Most certainly not. I retain them for the jaunt out to the lot, and they get to load up Sophia.

 

[wuarhat]

One good thing about plastic bags is that they fix carbon in a solid state for centuries. Granted trees are a much prettier method of doing this, but nobody (except maybe Ted Turner) is doing that anymore.

 

[cobraboy]

What about flies and rats?

Have seen no rats. We do have cats, though. Flies are no problem. We do get tiny fruit flies because of the various fruit trees in the yard, but no problem.

We limit the compost to veggies and fruit remains.

 

[cobraboy]

I'll find the info and post it here.

The program (in Santiago) is run by Banreservas, so contact them.

The way it works is you call and tell them how many bags you have. Then you go pick up a ticket on a given day. You take the ticket and the bags of plastic and receive the food which is now modest quantities of rice, beans, salt, sugar, milk, chocolate, oil and a bar of soap.

I've noticed that recycling in the DR gets complicated, far more than in the states. In fact, the garbage separation effort here in Jarabacoa has been largely abandoned after a big PR splash because folks found all the separation into different colored bags before separate trucks come (or not) to pick it up required too much complicated effort. The Powers wanted people to have two garbage cans in their houses, and two garbage cans for the street, and different colored bags that the people had to provide themselves. I suspected they were asking too much.

 

[Chirimoya]

That's what happened in Punta Cana. There is a successful recycling plant but unfortunately they have not succeeded in getting people to separate their household rubbish (we do, but we're in the minority). The categories are organic, recyclables (glass, aluminium, PET, paper and cardboard) and non-recyclables.

I don't know how well it works with the local businesses, which are also expected to follow the rules.

They did all the right things - house-to-house visits, talks for the residents and children, distribution of printed and audiovisual materials. They initially targetted the residents before realising that in most cases they had to persuade the domestic workers so they modified the materials accordingly. It still didn't work. The depressing result is that the men who collect the rubbish have to separate the waste themselves.

One alternative would be to introduce penalties. They do this in some European countries and people resent it - in the UK you get all these sob stories of old-age pensioners being fined for putting a newspaper in the box meant for bottles, etc. In any case it's difficult to police so unlikely to work here.

Maybe they could introduce an incentive. Make unannounced house visits and if the residents can show they separate their rubbish they get a small prize like a free meal at a local restaurant.

 

[william webster]

I thought my original post spoke to that....

initiate a deposit.. an attractive deposit...
the bottles are collected back at a point... not public garbage

Ontario collects ALL liquor/wine/beer bottles at depots... for reuse.

Pure garbage is a different matter.
Start with premium pay for alcohol bottle - or just beer
the lesson thereafter will be easier.

PET can carry a deposit.... it's like a refund
but my idea was to charge say - 5 pesos and pay 6-7 for the return....
an incentive plan

 

[cobraboy]

That's what happened in Punta Cana. There is a successful recycling plant but unfortunately they have not succeeded in getting people to separate their household rubbish (we do, but we're in the minority). The categories are organic, recyclables (glass, aluminium, PET, paper and cardboard) and non-recyclables.

I don't know how well it works with the local businesses, which are also expected to follow the rules.

They did all the right things - house-to-house visits, talks for the residents and children, distribution of printed and audiovisual materials. They initially targetted the residents before realising that in most cases they had to persuade the domestic workers so they modified the materials accordingly. It still didn't work. The depressing result is that the men who collect the rubbish have to separate the waste themselves.

One alternative would be to introduce penalties. They do this in some European countries and people resent it - in the UK you get all these sob stories of old-age pensioners being fined for putting a newspaper in the box meant for bottles, etc. In any case it's difficult to police so unlikely to work here.

Maybe they could introduce an incentive. Make unannounced house visits and if the residents can show they separate their rubbish they get a small prize like a free meal at a local restaurant.

Why not just hire people to separate the garbage before it goes to the landfill paid by a tax on plastics at the distribution level?

 

[Chirimoya]

Why not just hire people to separate the garbage before it goes to the landfill paid by a tax on plastics at the distribution level?

Specifically in our case the hiring people to separate the garbage bit has already happened by default. We don't pay taxes to our service provider - the Punta Cana Group - we pay them maintenance fees which includes waste collection services. In a way it would be good if they raised the fees and gave this as a reason. I'd ask for an exemption.

 

[malko]

That's what happened in Punta Cana. There is a successful recycling plant but unfortunately they have not succeeded in getting people to separate their household rubbish (we do, but we're in the minority). The categories are organic, recyclables (glass, aluminium, PET, paper and cardboard) and non-recyclables.

I don't know how well it works with the local businesses, which are also expected to follow the rules.

They did all the right things - house-to-house visits, talks for the residents and children, distribution of printed and audiovisual materials. They initially targetted the residents before realising that in most cases they had to persuade the domestic workers so they modified the materials accordingly. It still didn't work. The depressing result is that the men who collect the rubbish have to separate the waste themselves.

One alternative would be to introduce penalties. They do this in some European countries and people resent it - in the UK you get all these sob stories of old-age pensioners being fined for putting a newspaper in the box meant for bottles, etc. In any case it's difficult to police so unlikely to work here.

Maybe they could introduce an incentive. Make unannounced house visits and if the residents can show they separate their rubbish they get a small prize like a free meal at a local restaurant.

I dont like the UK method, far to complicated,  4 or 5 diffrent bins, diffrent days for diffrent bins......

I much prefer the french system.  
Lots of small hubs for every day recycling. Glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, etc....... these hubs are found in each neighborhood and in strategic points like supermarket car parks, etc.......
And each commune has a recycling center for all the other stuff like compost, tyres, and anythimg you can think of. Local taxes pay for this and you get your yearly pass when you pay your taxes.
Often its the mentally/physically disabled that man these centers and help you find the right place for your rubbish.

It could work in the dr, I am sure. No need for usless political BS as each ajunamento (?) could set it up at not much cost.

 

[Chirimoya]

I dont like the UK method, far to complicated,  4 or 5 diffrent bins, diffrent days for diffrent bins......

I much prefer the french system.  
Lots of small hubs for every day recycling. Glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, etc....... these hubs are found in each neighborhood and in strategic points like supermarket car parks, etc.......
And each commune has a recycling center for all the other stuff like compost, tyres, and anythimg you can think of. Local taxes pay for this and you get your yearly pass when you pay your taxes.
Often its the mentally/physically disabled that man these centers and help you find the right place for your rubbish.

It could work in the dr, I am sure. No need for usless political BS as each ajunamento (?) could set it up at not much cost.

That's how they do it in Spain too. Those systems are optional as opposed to mandatory. Punta Cana has a "zero waste" policy so the aim was for every single household and business to separate its own rubbish.

 

[cobraboy]

First the people need to be educated as to *why* recycling is important. Without that step being accomplished no recycling program will work.

Baby steps, like "don't litter" first.

After Lady Bird Johnson launched her "Beautify America" campaign in 1964 it took 10 years for folks to stop littering in the states.

There needs to be a massive public TV/radio/billboard/etc. campaign from the DR gubmint for several years pounding the point home constantly. And until litterers & polluters become social pariahs, no other recycling campaign will gain any traction regardless of how important they are.

Oldster 'Muricans will remember this PSA running constantly on TV when you were an impressionable kid:

[video=youtube;8Suu84khNGY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Suu84khNGY[/video]

 

[reilleyp]

First the people need to be educated as to *why* recycling is important. Without that step being accomplished no recycling program will work.

Baby steps, like "don't litter" first.

After Lady Bird Johnson launched her "Beautify America" campaign in 1964 it took 10 years for folks to stop littering in the states.

There needs to be a massive public TV/radio/billboard/etc. campaign from the DR gubmint for several years pounding the point home constantly. And until litterers & polluters become social pariahs, no other recycling campaign will gain any traction regardless of how important they are.

Oldster 'Muricans will remember this PSA running constantly on TV when you were an impressionable kid:

[video=youtube;8Suu84khNGY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Suu84khNGY[/video]

Exactly!  I always felt the same way.  Target the next generation.  This one does not care.  I showed this to my Dominican wife who never saw this commercial, and she thinks it would be a waste of money.  She thinks people would throw a bag of garbage right on a Taino.  As a kid growing up and watching this commercial, it made me think a lot more about throwing a can or bottle out the window.

 

[Bronxboy]

A bit of trivia.

The actor in the commercial was actually an Italian man that graced the Indian culture.

https://priceonomics.com/the-true-story-of-the-crying-indian/