by Rod Hughes
There’s a lot of rubbish out there and, unfortunately, it isn’t all in pro- and anti- CAFTA propaganda campaigns.
The Ministry of Public Heath estimates that 300 tons of garbage is dumped in rivers and vacant lots in the country each day. But the government has a plan…
Costa Ricans produce 11,000 tons of refuse daily, far more prolific than any industry here. But the good news is that fully 80% is recycleable. The ministries of Health and Environment have set their sights on this potential gold mine and have come up with a solid waste management plan to go into effect in September, the daily La Nación reported today.
The plan has been under study with the aid of the German government for the last eight months. According to German advisor Andreas Elmenhorst, in his homeland organic rubbish is nearly all recycled. “You should look at refuse as a resource,” he told the paper.
This is good news for a country drowning in garbage both at overloaded landfills and in eyesore, health-hazard improvised dumps. Although plastic is an organic substance, it is biodegradeable in the slowest sense—a plastic bag from the supermarket takes 150 years to disintegrate!
The program must be two pronged. First industries must be established to recycle. Second, Ticos must be educated to the ills of promiscuous dumping, poisoning their own rivers and spoiling the enjoyment of a naturally beautiful country by littering.
And the latter may be the longest task of all.