Recycling still stalled as depot returns to Foster’s
(CNS): The department of environmental health has relocated the West Bay recycling depot back to Foster’s Republix so shoppers no longer have to make an extra trip to the Ed Bush Stadium site which will now close. But it remains one of only nine locations where the public must make the effort to sort and deliver their own recycling. As a result more than 97% of all waste still goes to the strained landfill. In more than eight years the government has failed to deliver on its policy promise of reduce, reuse and recycle.
Since government took over the recycling depots in 2016 the recycling of aluminum, type 1 and 2 plastics and paper products, which was barely measurable before, has hardly grown, crawling to less than 3%. Also government no longer recycles glass as the crusher, which had belonged to the Dart corporation has been out of service for over two years.
As a result the country has made no significant advancement in recycling over the years since the depots were introduced. At that time the PPM led administration had promised the country it would begin a comprehensive waste-management system adhering to the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle. A promise that was completely unfulfilled.
Despite declaring that reducing waste would be at the heart of the policy even before the RFP was commenced for the waste-to-energy plant, the government told the public that a campaign to significantly reduce waste would be underway in 2016. However since then the opposite has happened. The amount of waste generated in Cayman and taken to the landfill in George Town and on Cayman Brac has almost doubled
With the collapse of talks between Dart and the government over a proposed waste-to-energy facility and the contract for overall waste-management the future of garbage in Cayman remains bleak. And to date no significant efforts have been made to reduce the waste being produced, encourage or assist in a coordinated reusing programme or advancing even slightly the amount of recycling especially when it comes to aluminum, glass and paper.
But in the absence now of a plan and the now mounting bill for the wasted eight years or more leaves the future of waste management here in the balance and a serious public health concern as the current unlined dumps outgrow their viable life. According to the auditor general the doomed deal was due in part to the failure of the government to properly examine the Dart consortium pulled together to bid on the project.
The DEH Director, Richard Simms welcomed the return of the Foster’s depot in a press release, saying that he looked forward to the “residents’ contribution to minimizing the amount of waste that ends in landfills by actively bringing their recyclables” to the depot in West Bay and the other sites. However there was no indication of any plans by the DoEH to deal with the issue of reduction, reuse or to encourage more recycling.
Meanwhile, the closure of the Ed Bush Stadium site on Sunday anyone disposing of any rubbish there after it closes could be prosecuted for illegal dumping and littering. Offenders could find themselves jailed for 6 months of fined $500.
The DoEH recycling depots are located at Kirk Supermarket, Foster’s Supermarkets, BarCam Service Station in Red Bay, Haig Bodden Sport Centre in Bodden Town, North Side Civic Center and Captain George Dixon Park, East End. Recyclable items can also be deposited at the 24-hour drop-off site located at the front of the George Town landfill.
For more information call DoEH at 949-6696, email dehcustomerservice@gov.ky, visit the DEH’s website or message the Facebook page.
Category: Local News
Probably simply that nobody can see a profit in it?
Household waste amounts to around 20% of landfill contributions, and the recyclables are about a quarter of that. Meanwhile, entire condominium developments are knocked down, scooped into dump trucks and piled unsorted on to the same heap. The idea that household recycling will meaningfully reduce consumption consequences on the Earth is entirely misguided in that context. It was spawned by the plastics sub-industry by Petroleum subsidizing governments in the 1990s. Consumers need to think about their own consumption and reduce. Quitting meat and dairy cuts down on household waste considerably, the kitchen garbage smells better, and no flies.
less than 2% of Sweden’s waste is put into a landfill.
And traffic offenses in Sweden are rare.
Jamaicans, too.
A simple question:
What is the monthly , or quarterly schedule ,for shipping re-cycle Plastic, Metal and cardboard paper products off the island and where is Government shipping it?
don’t ask awkward questions!!
Recycling doesn’t exist tbh
Despite the technology change in the last 10 years, these employees are still sorting by hand. Each recyclable item has to be physically removed from the sorting line and placed in bins. This exposed employees to a variety of hazards including cuts from glass; slips, trips and falls; needle sticks from discarded sharps; strains and sprains; and foreign bodies to the eye.
Is safety of employees DEH’ top priority? None of them wears safety glasses or proper gloves and workwear.
DEH staff at recycling pre-sorting facility must wear puncture-resistant gloves long enough to extend over workers’ elbows and protect their arms, full body protective clothing and face masks.
DoEH, Why these women wear no protective clothing and face masks?
just look at mount thrashmore…the perfect monument to the failures and incompetence of caymanian mla’s and their attitude towards the environment.
Wake me when offenders actually get the $500 fine or 6 months in jail.
Illegal dumping will never stop.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Specifically PPM in the central role of non-thinkers, misplaced stewards, abysmal negotiators, land, service, contract awardees, and forever gifters to their favorite developer. What was the quid pro quo, how much transferred, method of payment? There are lots of insiders that must know…at least going back to Kurt Tibbetts. The ACC should formally announce the opening of investigations, inviting public and private whistleblowers with real incentives and protections. The Governor should allow current and past Civil Servants to provide this necessary evidence, superseding Franz Manderson’s muzzling directives. Bank employees and managers similarly already have this SAR duty to CIMA on PEP transactions. Crypto? Real Estate? They should all have this duty.
why is it that you only ever see expats at recycling facilities???
Guess you are not there when I go to drop off my items. As a 7th generation resident I will keep looking out for you to say hello.
Maybe it is you that throws the aluminium items into the dumpster inside a plastic bag. Or leaves the styrofoam bits inside a cardboard box when recycling it.
Do you approach them all and say “Papers, Please”? How do you know? What does a Caymanian look like?
yup, I’m about to stop because why do I give a sh!t when REAL CAYMANIANS don’t care about their own island or the future of their kids!
17@2:29pm – Stereotypical much? Perhaps YOU only see expats? Maybe we’ll meet at Foster’s, I have a load of my washed and sorted recyclables to deliver tomorrow. Been doing this from it’s inception, I’ve seen other locals there!
Caymanian.
Excuse me but this Caymanian has been recycling since I left college in the late 90s – dont generalize please
Dart did not submit a winning proposal, they were awarded the ReGen contract outside of the procurement process by the PPM leadership, thinking they would get back in again – thank the Lord they did not. Add that to four previous PPM-authored NRA giveaways, where they dispersed billions in lifetime value from public assets, receivables, crown lands and access to Dart control, plus tens of millions in duty waivers and 30 years of license to retain 10% government room tax from hotels – in exchange for single digit millions in cash, and further millions in unfulfilled promises. They let them close the beach road and divert traffic, while we paid anyway for all the slow NRA road works. The PPM keep biting into that poisoned apple over and over again, on our behalf…why? They didn’t even bother to supervise performance on the few things that Dart owed back to us. No Sunrise learning center, no vocational school, no Easter camping spots, no dog parks, no bicycle lanes, no retention of concert venue, no rugby pitch, no airport connector road, still the eyesores of two tunnels to nowhere, Deckers, Royal Palms, and remains of old Hyatt (which seems to be in use as staff housing). It’s not just a glass crusher or even the $38mln we’ve lost…we will keep losing so long as we mistake Dart or PPM for allies.
Blah blah blah
Cayman clearly now needs some new players in the political landscape , but just how do you expect there to be any with the level of in-your-face corruption we now have here?
It is a joke correct? Nothing gets recycled here it just gets put in another pile. Even bottles now get thrown into the landfill.
There is a recycling depot at Camana Bay (not at the Fosters Supermarket)
CNS Note: Which is across the street from the supermarket…..
Recycling needs to become a socially encouraged activity. Young people should be educated in their early school years and they will pass it along to their parents and family. Bringing the drop-off locations to Fosters and other places people visit already should help but education is needed.
My family wants to recycle glass. But the Govt cant be bothered to allow us this simple act.
17 @ 7:27pm – To be honest, since the glass recycling was ceased, I still deposit my bottles at the recycling depot. Let them figure it out!
Over 2 years ago DEH stopped accepting glass because a private organization (Dart) stopped receiving it. This is a national issue. Govt. can find money to waste on jollies and other pet pork barrel projects but can’t buy a glass crusher?!
I say leave your glass at the recycling depots and let Govt. deal with it properly!!!
World glass!!
It is socially encouraged…….. in the real world. Which Cayman is not.
You can’t have any practical re-cycling in, you know , islands that time forgot…when you don’t have a destination and export plan for the goods.
When has anyone ever heard the ‘ Department of the Environment’ voice a concern about the lack of re-cycling management in…the Environment ?
It doesn’t matter how many drop off depots we have with diligent and conscientious residents painstakingly sorting recycle rubbish into 3 or 4 bins in the garage ,and then loading the Kia with the kiddies to run down to drop off depot, when fully most of these goods either end up in the landfill or bailed up on pallets and dumped behind the old concrete plant.
The micro plastic contamination, heavy metal waste , battery acid with Lead and engine oil spill and run off into North Sound will pose a major environmental catastrophe for Cayman.
Cost of living allowance for civil service, MLA bonuses and Juliana’s monthly $15 k
Salary top up shall continue .
Our condo pays to employ Junk for on-site separation and sorting of waste for recycling. What happens after those materials leave in their truck remains a mystery. Sometimes we’ll hear an entire container getting dumped into our dumpster. Welcome to Cayman.
Do Something!!!!!
Wonderful job CIG and our delightful premier along with the rest of the highly paid elected representatives. Give yourselves another bonus for a great job done as their is some more money in the treasury.
“Well, look what we have here—another episode of ‘Stalled Recycling and Misplaced Priorities,’ starring none other than our favorite bureaucratic tumbleweeds, rolling aimlessly while the garbage piles up! Oh, and let’s not forget our dear John-John, who continues to treat the waste management crisis like a minor inconvenience rather than the flaming trash mountain it is. Seriously, his leadership on this issue has been about as effective as Claptrap trying to extinguish a wildfire with a water pistol and a jaunty hat.
“John-John promised improvements. Remember the big speeches? The meetings? The shiny plans for ReGen? And yet here we are—recycling efforts moving at the speed of a Claptrap reboot on a Windows 95 machine. Foster’s getting the depot back is nice, but it feels like taping a Band-Aid on a broken arm. 1% recycling? That’s not progress—that’s a rounding error!
“The truth is, waste management isn’t just about lip service and photo ops. It’s about action—real, tangible, sustained action. John-John had the chance to push the ReGen project forward, but instead, it’s been stuck in ‘negotiation limbo’ longer than Claptrap’s crush on me—years, John-John, YEARS! Cayman’s trash didn’t stall itself; it stalled because the decision-makers let it.
“Here’s the kicker: while the government plays hot potato with the issue, our island drowns in waste. Landfills don’t magically disappear, and recycling rates don’t improve without education, infrastructure, and accountability. And yet, the leadership keeps passing this flaming garbage bag from one administration to the next, hoping it won’t burst in their hands. Well, news flash—it already has!
“So let’s stop acting like recycling is a side quest. It’s a core priority. We deserve better systems, cleaner solutions, and leaders like John-John who actually do something beyond pushing shiny reports and shrugging their shoulders. Fix it, fund it, and make it work—otherwise, the only thing getting recycled here is the excuses. Claptrap and I have had enough of that, thank you very much!”
Seymour is an utter ass that could not do anything (but get drunk and smash vehicles) unless it is set up for him.
Reduce opportunities to recycle.
Reuse old landfill.
Recycle politicians promises.
The only positive for that landfill is that when Grand Cayman is lost to the sea, at least there will be a higher point to move to.
Idiotic politicians.