Solid waste


In areas with high concentrations of tourist activities and appealing natural attractions, waste disposal is a serious problem and improper disposal can be a major despoiler of the natural environment ' coasts, scenic areas, and roadsides. This problem has received special attention in smaller island states particularly, which face difficulties siting solid waste disposal facilities, and which are too small to be able to support economically viable re- cycling programs. In the Caribbean, solid waste impacts also include the land disposal of ship- generated rubbish which can no longer be disposed at sea, as a result of the designation of the Caribbean Sea as a special area under the Law of the Sea.

Picture courtesy of Topham.

In the US Virgin Islands, a highly tourism dependent island nation, waste problems have reached extreme levels in recent years. Due to a ' dump' fire on the island of St John, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to extinguish, and subsequent community pressure, the Government of the Virgin Islands had to close all public dumps on St. John. Trash is now collected in St. John and trucked daily via inter-island ferry to St. Thomas, where it is deposited in the Bovoni landfill- estimated to be near or above its total capacity. This site has been burning underground for over a year, with occasional surface "breakthroughs" spewing noxious smoke, fumes and clouds of flies over nearby government-supported housing, a junior high school, a resort and second home communities. To make matters worse, the Bovoni landfill, much of which is not lined nor sealed, is also adjacent to the last surviving mangrove forest in St. Thomas.

Solid waste problems are also problems of rubbish that is NOT disposed of in landfill sites. Very often, the environmental effects of discarded materials and equipment is very significant. In a scoping study for Tortola, British Virgin Islands, the Island Resources Foundation estimated that a five- acre shoreline and mangrove area holds on average 50 tons of abandoned and discarded barges, vehicles, boats, and heavy construction equipment - and this for an area generally thought to be in good environmental condition.

Picture courtesy of NOAA.

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