Ecobreves – CUBA: Fruitful Recycling Effort

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

HAVANA, Dec 9 2006 (IPS) - An experimental project for recycling domestic waste, implemented this year in 810 households in Havana's San Isidro neighborhood, has produced organic material for use as fertilizer and income from the sale of solid waste materials. Each person produces an average of 0.7 kilograms of waste, which the families separate into organic and solid categories. The first is used to produce fertilizer for a nearby garden, and the second is picked up each day by a government community service agency, which determines its value.

“The pilot phase of the project, carried out with 14,000 dollars provided by Canada, will end in February. We hope to expand it in 2007 to some 2,000 families,” said Marilyn Fernández, vice-president of the State Work Group of Havana Bay.

This project is one of several that the group has under way, with the ultimate goal to protect the bay. Old Havana alone — the municipality where San Isidro is located — generates 161 tons of waste daily.