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GREEN WASTE “NO PICK UP” POLICY IN PLACE TO ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY

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Published 5 December 2018

Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source

GREEN WASTE “NO PICK UP” POLICY IN PLACE TO ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY
Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 04, 2018 (SKNIS): Green waste will not be picked up by the Solid Waste Management Corporation’s (SWMC’s) trucks, says General Manager Keithley Phillip, noting that when comingled with combustible materials, such as aerosol, fires can result.

Green waste is biodegradable waste that can be composed of garden or park waste. It includes things like grass clippings, shrub and yard clippings, branches, woodchips, bark, wood, palm trees and branches, and weeds.

“The problem with the green waste is that when you take it and comingle it with the other waste at the landfill it can cause a problem,” explained Mr. Phillip. “Heat generates from the waste very easily. One of the gases that escapes from the landfill is methane, and very easily the heat may cause the grass to combust. When that happens, there is a major fire at the landfill. Could you image a small country like St. Kitts if we had a large landfill fire with all the escaped gas?,” he added.

Mr. Phillip stated that the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) is enforcing this policy to keep the country safe.

“We are trying to tell persons that it’s not that we are trying to be hard and fast, but there is a reason why we are saying to you there are certain things you should put in your waste and there are certain things you can’t, such as the green waste,” he said.

The general manager said that green waste should be carried directly to the landfill. There, the waste will be weighed and persons will be billed accordingly.

The green waste is stored at a different part of the landfill.

 

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