DAILY NATION. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017. 13

FOCUS

The container
deposit option
by BARRY ALLEYNE
In Tokyo, JapanMIMPEI ITO, a solid waste specialist in Japan,
believes small Caribbean countries should be waryof waste-to-energy projects.
(Picture by Barry Alleyne.)

by the Association for
Promotion of International
Cooperation and theForeign Press Centre
IN THE ABSENCE ofof Japan.
extremely deep pockets,
The journalists – fromsmall island developing
Barbados, Jamaica,
states like those in theGrenada, Fiji, Samoa, andCaribbean should beAmerican Samoa – arewary of waste-to-energy
being introduced to several
solutions, says
initiatives which Japana Japanese solid waste
has used to mitigate themanagement expert.
effects of natural disasters
A programme set up
and risk management overunder container deposit
legislation (CDL) could be the last decade.
The container deposita more feasible and lessprogramme involves
expensive option, said
importers of containers
Mimpei Ito, director ofEnvironment Management (aluminium or plastic)
having to pay anTeam 1 at the Japan
International Cooperation additional amount at
the source, which is thenAgency (JICA).
passed on to the consumer.
Ito was speaking at
The amount can be
JICA’s Tokyo headquarters
redeemed if the container
to six journalists
is returned to a designatedparticipating in thecollection centre, at which2017 Pacific/Caribbean
time a small sum isprogramme hosted

DISASTER MITIGATION WORKSHOPThe Association for Promotion of International
Cooperation (APIC) and the Foreign Press Centre ofJapan have come together once again to give regional
journalists insight into how the country goes about
mitigating the effects of natural disasters.
Japan, a country known in recent times forearthquakes and tsunamis, has spent hundreds ofmillions of dollars on special technology and building
methods to protect its citizenry.
This year, APIC has invited six journalists fromthe Caribbean and Pacific region to get a first-handlook at those methods. Associate Editor Barry Alleyne
is representing THE NATION.
returned to the consumer,
and Governments uses
the remaining finance tooperate recycling centres.
One downside of the
programme for small
jurisdictions, however,is that a final source forthe recycled product may
have to be found outside
the country.
Concerning thewaste-to-energy option, Itosaid that while it is viable,
it demands a high level ofcontinuous financing to
make it work, which would
be a bugbear for cashstrapped Caribbean andPacific islands.
“Many islands likeyours have the sameproblems with landfill
space,” he explained. “Yes,you can do waste-to-energy,
but the first thing you

have to look at is the cost.
Waste-to-energy creates
benefits, but in reality
it’s not always financiallyfeasible. You have to keep
pumping money in.
“The waste amountproduced is not always
the capacity of the entireincinerator, and there is alarge investment involved.”
Ito revealed that ash,the end product of thewaste-to-energy method,
also needed to be delivered
to a final disposal site.
“This ash isalso sometimes
environmentally toxic
with some heavy metals,”
he said.
He concluded that if a
Government’s main target
was waste reduction
then waste-to-energy
could work.