If the country recycled 25% of its solid wastes, US$60 million a year could be generated, reports 7dias.com.do
The Zero Waste program was presented yesterday by Roberto Herrera, president of the National Network for Business Support to Environmental Protection (Ecored), Smeldy Ramirez, representative in the Dominican Republic for the Inter-American Development Bank and Albina Ruiz Rios, president of Ciudad Saludable, in Peru.
Ecored is coordinating a project that will be carried out simultaneously in five provinces for a year and a half, funded by US$300,000 from the IDB.
The objective of Zero Waste is to identify business opportunities and provide the unofficial recyclers, known here as “buzos” or trash scavengers, with access to credit. EcoRed is also backing a bill on recycling solid waste that is under review in the Chamber of Deputies.
Roberto Herrera said that the first phase involves research on the life of the buzos in order to adapt the experience of the Peruvian Ciudad Saludable program to the Dominican Republic. Ruiz Rios said that the program has been successful in 10 countries in Latin America and Africa.
In the Dominican Republic, the project will be carried out in Samana, San Pedro de Macoris and Santo Domingo East municipality.
Some 8,000 tons of garbage are produced in the Dominican Republic, of which an estimated 2,000 tons can be recycled, generating millions of pesos worth of revenue.
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