The Trinidad & Tobago Business Guide (TTBG, 2009-10)

Carrot and stick
Incentives are built into the EMA’s approach
to solid waste. “Plastic bottle litter is one of
the main issues we have to deal with,” Singh
explains, “and the Beverage Containers Bill
[which the EMA has been working on] looks
to tackle it via the deposit approach: when you
take the bottle back you get a deposit refund.
This has been very effective in countries
such as Canada and the US. In addition
to this, manufacturers will pay into a fund
and, depending on the volume of containers
produced and the returns made, they get a
refund as well.”
The Bill’s passage has been delayed, though,
while the government adjusts it to cover
additional items such as the disposal of tyres
and batteries. Further legislation is proposed to
deal with hazardous waste.
In the meantime, a fixed fee penalty system
for water course pollution is being rolled out:
the EMA conducts an assessment, issues a
permit and performance guidelines to the
polluter, and follows this up with a fine if
necessary. “In the longer term, we want to move
towards the ‘true polluters pay’ approach,” says
Singh, “where the polluter pays the true cost of
remediating the damage done.”
International standards
One industry that was assumed to be among
the worst polluters, oil and
gas, is now being cited as a
cause for optimism. “We are
benefitting from many of the
multinational corporations
[being] involved in the oil and
gas industry,” Singh maintains.
“I say benefit because they
are coming with their own
standards and guidelines, many
of which are tighter than exist
in this country presently. We
can learn from these guidelines.
We have suffered at the hands of the industry
in the past—for example, the Guaracara River
was once little more than an oil drain. But
steps have been made to clean it up, so we are
moving in the right direction.”
Industrial pollution and solid waste
litter such as plastic bottles are conspicuous
problems. But Singh suggests that some of the
less headline-catching issues, such as sewage,
sediment run-off and air pollution, are just as
significant.
“Solid waste like garbage is given a lot of
attention. But sewage and land clearance
which induces sediment run-off are major
issues, especially for Tobago’s coral reefs,
which are very susceptible. We have a lot of
nitrates and phosphates going into the coastal
environment, leading to eutrophication (the
“A great
many people
misunderstand the
role of the EMA,
and this has led
to some being
disappointed in its
performance...”
heavy build-up of algae), which ultimately
leads to the suffocation of reefs.
“Air pollution as well is something we are
grappling with. The EMA has drafted air
pollution rules with a suite of standards for
contaminants and levels of discharge which are
deemed acceptable to the environment.”
Landfill
The processing of rubbish, especially via
landfill, is a global issue, especially problematic
for small island states with their limited land
space. “Incinerators are expensive to maintain
and contentious in terms of emissions,” Singh
notes. “It’s harder to maintain these higher-end
technologies in developing countries. I think
in Trinidad I can see landfilling continuing to
be the preferred option in the medium term,
but as the country moves towards developed
nation status incineration might come to the
fore.”
The current Beetham Highway landfill at
the entrance to Port of Spain is emblematic of
the issues which surround landfills generally: it
is an eyesore, it smells, and there are problems
with spontaneous combustion, which leads
to air pollution affecting the capital and its
surroundings. The city’s Waterfront Plan,
though, contains proposals for the Beetham
landfill, which will see it
covered over and remediated
within the next ten years.
The site could be put to use
as a small airport.
Recycling
For those thinking that
recycling could be an answer,
the future does not look
bright. Trinidadian recycling
projects have achieved
only limited success, and
Singh sees it as a long-term
prospect at best.
“The problem is it’s not an economically
viable operation, and it’s a polluting industry as
well. There are not that many recycling plants
in Trinidad and Tobago outside of glass, which
is viable, but the same is not true for things
such as plastics. There is an option to export.
For instance, Barbados has a recycling plant,
which I believe is subsidised, that uses plastics
to make roofing tiles. For Trinidad it makes
sense to continue exporting at the current
time, it’s a way of dealing with the problem.
“I would be supportive of a Trinidadian
recycling plant, but it is perhaps something we
need to look at down the road. The amount of
plastics we produce is substantive enough to
support it, but my suspicion is that it would
have to be a subsidised industry.”
Dr Joth Singh (right), CEO of the Environmental Management Authority
74 TTBG 09/10