NSWMA Highlighting E-Waste on Global Recycling Day

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) will place special emphasis on electronic waste as part of its observance of Global Recycling Day on Wednesday, March 18.

Electronic waste, commonly referred to as e-waste, includes discarded electronic devices such as cell phones, laptop and tablet computers, and other equipment containing electrical components or plugs.

Speaking during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’, NSWMA Executive Director, Audley Gordon, noted that Global Recycling Day provides an opportunity for the Authority to boost public awareness about the proper handling and disposal of electronic devices.

“We want to penetrate the headspace of the populace… so we stay with the e-waste aspect of recycling,” he said, adding that the day will be commemorated under the theme ‘Don’t Think Waste, Think Opportunity’.

As part of the observance, the NSWMA will host a range of activities across its operational regions, including clean-up exercises, e-waste collection drives, and public education initiatives.

“In the SPM Waste Management [region], which is Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth, we will be going to Mullet Hall New Testament Church of God, and we will be doing an e-waste drive while, for WPM Waste Management Limited [region], which includes the parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James and Trelawny, we will have an e-waste panel discussion and school sensitisation at Montego Bay Community College,” Mr. Gordon indicated.

Meanwhile, he informed that MPM Waste Management Limited, in partnership with the Pan American Development Foundation, will host a clean-up and e-waste collection drive in Majesty Gardens, Kingston.

Additionally, activities for NEPM Waste Management Limited will be held at St. Ann’s Bay Primary School in St. Ann.

“For all of these activities, the public is not just invited but is fully integral and embraced in them, because this message has to be pushed far and wide,” Mr. Gordon said, emphasising that improper handling and disposal of e-waste can pose serious threats to life, crops, and the environment.

The Executive Director further noted that while Global Recycling Day provides a focal point for activities, the Authority’s efforts will extend well beyond a single day, as it seeks to change long-standing attitudes towards waste disposal.

“We are honoured to have this conversation with everyone who will allow us to interface with them… because what we’re up against is culture, and nowhere in the world can culture be resolved or changed overnight,” Mr. Gordon stated, while acknowledging that it will take time to shift the mindset surrounding waste management.

“We are patient enough to work with everyone to shift the culture of disposal in Jamaica, to get people to stop or to remove [the word] ‘waste’ from the vocabulary and see ‘repurpose, recycle and opportunity’ [as the alternatives],” he added.