
Why delay Beverage Container Bill?
Date: June 1st , 2017
Dear Editor/Newsroom,
Why delay Beverage Containers Bill?
When business leaders lead, the world gets closer to sustainability.
Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) commend a business giant, Mr Norman Sabga, CEO and Chairman of the ANSA McAl Group of Companies for emphasizing the need for the development and implementation/enforcement of legislation to deal with the recycling of plastic containers and bottles in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sabga has stated that “after Carnival when you walk around you do not see one bottle from Carib Brewery because each bottle is worth 25 cents and people walk around collecting bottles to return them to us because we recycle bottles. With plastic containers there is no recycling, so that is an area of concern to us.”
As seen in the case of glass bottles, placing a monetary value on plastics is one way in ensuring the collection of plastics from our environment which can then be recycled and at the same time act as a source of income to the most vulnerable in society while saving energy; conserving biodiversity especially marine life; decreases landfill toxic ooze; and can effectively curb the ongoing problem of plastic pollution in the watercourses and road ways which promote breeding grounds for pests and mosquitoes that plague our surroundings.
FFOS appeal to our Government to finally make the long-promised, long overdue Beverage Container Bill into LAW. This single piece of necessary legislation once adequately enforced would set the stage for creating wealth from waste…hundreds of millions of dollars in the collection, sorting, storage and processing within the labour intensive recycling sector…. and yet Government after Government are lost without political will or leadership inspiration.
This Bill was written over 20 years ago. The entire world has adopted its essence and many many countries and continents now have beverage recycling incentives and legislation, facilities and subsidies, and yet here, our Parliamentarians seem to be in La La Land.
What is our PNM waiting for?
Sincerely,
Gary Aboud
Corporate Secretary