NSWMA Embarking On Composting Public Awareness Campaign

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) will be partnering with the Social Development Commission (SDC) and Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) to heighten public awareness about the benefits of composting.

Composting is a form of waste disposal wherein organic waste decomposes naturally under oxygen-rich conditions.

This was disclosed by the NSWMA’S Executive Director, Audley Gordon, during a recent press conference at the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development on Hagley Park Road in Kingston.

“We will go into every household across Jamaica, if needs be… the schools [and] the churches, to talk composting,” he said.

Mr. Gordon noted that based on the latest garbage characterisation survey, more than 70 per cent of what is taken to disposal sites is compostable.

“We don’t need to be carrying such a valuable material to dump off somewhere when it has good commercial value and is very good soil nutrients. So we want to push that conversation also,” he said.

Mr. Gordon contended that in addition to composting, Jamaicans should continue to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

He further encourages persons to containerise their refuse and keep these in a secure space until these are trucked to disposal sites.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director said that under the NSWMA’s enhanced dengue mitigation programme, 500 loads of bulky waste have been removed from 320 districts.

Mr. Gordon assured that the agency will continue to partner with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to contain the spread of dengue.

“This is significant because we have a duty at the NSWMA to ensure that we rid communities of the excess garbage and bulky waste [which] is a critical component of that [dengue containment]. I believe we have done quite a decent job in the first phase of our enhanced dengue mitigation programme,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gordon also encourages Jamaicans to take personal responsibility for the solid waste they generate.

“It is not sufficient to just leave it to the NSWMA, the Councillor, or the Member of Parliament. It is important that all of us know that we have a duty to ensure Jamaica’s beauty,” he emphasised.