‘The Beast’ to gobble up natural Christmas trees

Natural Christmas tree recycling by DEH

(CNS): The Department of Environmental Health (DEH) is encouraging the public to put natural Christmas trees in skips across the island after the holidays as part of the annual mulching programme. As part of what will hopefully become a much bigger recycling and composting initiative in 2016, the DEH has invested in a wood grinding machine, nicknamed “The Beast”, that will be used to gobble up the natural trees once they are collected after the festivities are over in a showcase demo in George Town.

Each year hundreds of trees are crushed and turned into mulch, which is in turn given to the public at no cost. The post-Christmas programme encourages recycling and prevents the trees from being thrown into the George Town landfill, conserving much needed space.

“Recycling natural trees is great for our gardens, it saves us money and reduces our impact on the environment,” said DEH Assistant Director for Solid Waste, Mark Rowlands.

From Friday 1 January through until Friday 22 January, collection containers will be placed at various sites across Grand Cayman, including the Ed Bush Stadium in West Bay, the Smith Road Cricket Oval, Spotts Dock and at the entrance of Frank Sound Road, for the public to use.

Then on Saturday 23 January at 9am staff from the DEH will mulch the trees at the Smith Road Cricket Oval and showcase what “The Beast” can do. Residents and children are welcome to watch the machine in action before claiming their free mulch but are asked to arrive on time in the morning and to bring their own bags and shovels.

For more information, contact the Solid Waste Unit on 949-8793.