Waste Management in Saint Martin - What We Can Learn

It was wonderful to finally hear some facts and figures comparing waste management in Saint Martin with that of the South side in a Parliament Meeting. There have been complaints of French trucks bringing French waste over the boarder (The Daily Herald, 21st March 2018) – but few have gone far enough to explain why, until MP Frans Richardson mentioned it in Public Meeting #19. (Link to the feed here – It starts about 1 hour 12 minutes into the meeting)

The French side runs an ‘eco-landfill’. They expect waste to be separated. Dumping mixed waste costs more (507.32 euro for about 5 tonnes). How did it take a month and a half for someone to realize this? And why is there no cooperation between the North and the South to have a similar fee structure?

Our concern is that when the South side brings its fees in line with the North, fly-tipping will become even more rampant. St Maarten needs to have laws against littering, as well as the resources and manpower to enforce them. Difficult in our current climate, but the dump can’t be ignored any longer. It is going to ruin our health and our livelihoods.

An Eco Landfill – Waste Management in Saint Martin

So what actually happens at the French Eco-Landfill? There are a number of different waste streams, all of which get treated differently.

French Saint Martin also had to deal with a dramatic post-Irma influx; 2016 saw 31,700 tonnes processed, 2017 saw 74,500 tonnes. Of that, 55,000 tonnes was produced in the four months post-Irma alone. Even with this dramatic increase, they expect to recycle at least 70% of the hurricane debris.

The site has been in operation since 2008. The old landfill is still smoldering, and there is still clearly more work to do, but it is a worthy study of what can be accomplished in our community.

Household Waste

Household waste should be separated and there are many recycling bins throughout the French side of the island to facilitate this. Many are within walking distance to most neighborhoods, or located close to the main neighborhood bin site. Glass has its own Green bin, and there is a Yellow mixed bin for other containers – plastics, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, and metal. It can not take Styrofoam, plastic bags, or Tetra Paks (cardboard lined with plastic).

In some neighborhoods, there is a section for green waste – yard clippings and organic waste that can be composted.

Le Pélican reports that recycling rates have decreased drastically since Irma. The site used to process 33 tonnes per month of glass pre-Irma. Today it averages 11 tonnes per month. For plastic, it was 9 tonnes per month pre-Irma, today it is 4. Even with the decrease, sometimes it can be difficult to find an empty bin.

Recycling on the French side - Waste Management in Saint Martin — Recycling on the French side – Waste Management in Saint Martin

Glass

Glass is crushed on site to make glass sand and glass gravel The end result is not sharp and is used in concrete products or to fill trenches.

Plastic and Cardboard

Plastic and cardboard are sorted and baled into dense bricks which can be sent Guadeloupe for further processing.

Compostable Waste

The green waste (collected both in the neighborhoods and through municipal clean ups) and packaging waste (pallets) are run through a chipper and mixed with nitrogen rich organic matter, aka poop, and composted. Once the process is complete, the finished compost is tested for dangerous pathogens in France, and then sold back to the community.

Scrap Metal

While China has put a stop to imported plastics and cardboard, scrap metal is still a valuable commodity. Cars are stripped of all usable parts, as well as oils and fuels, and crushed. Scrap metals are shredded, and a separator is arriving soon to further break down the scrap into recyclable components. The cubes of scrap metals are stored until there is 100 tonnes, and then it gets sent to China (with a total of 400 tonnes being sent so far).

Other Waste

Used oil, batteries, light-bulbs, and cables are all sent off island for processing.

The Remainder

The remaining waste is compressed – a process that both reduces the volume drastically, as well as removing oxygen reducing the fire risk.

What Can We Learn in Sint Maarten?

After Irma, there was a lot of criticism that French Saint Martin did not clean up as fast as the Dutch side. However, the eco-landfill has taken phased approach to handle the debris safely and effectively. The goal is to have the bulk materials processed before the peak of hurricane season in August 2018.

A lot of heavy machinery was damaged in Hurricane Irma – which caused a delay processing many materials:

The processing of compost was never paused – thanks to mother nature doing most of the work.
Plastic and cardboard processing was delayed due to lack of compactors.
As of April 2018, the eco-site was still awaiting a metal shredder and sorter to separate the different types of metals.

To help offset the delays, they created two new staging areas for the processing of hurricane waste – made from inert trash (aka rubble from demolished buildings). These areas will be given back to nature with the application of compost, and will remain reserved for processing debris from future natural disasters.

All of the processing comes at a cost: Trucks pay per ton to dump waste AND consumers pay per ton of finished product. The PDF rate sheets are freely available online.

The model for waste management in Saint Martin is not perfect, but it is a good starting point for discussion. We should be able to learn from our neighbors!