A total of 521,691 kg have been collected from streets, drains and water courses across the country in the last six months, most of them produced by local companies.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh gave that figure as he highlighted some of the threats to the environment posed by the systems and operations of T&T businesses. In the feature address at the opening ceremony of the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T's (Amcham TT) HSSE Conference at the Hyatt Regency on Thursday, the minister said the figures indicate the urgent need to work together on the issue of disposal of beverage containers.
He said work on legislation to address the problem will continue into 2015 and he expected a high level of corporate social responsibility.
Singh said as a precursor to enactment of the Beverage Container Bill, his minister joined forces with the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), Cepep, SWMCOL and the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) has for Beverage Container Clean-up Project. He said the project aims to to collect, document and dispose, using environment-friendly methods, discarded beverage containers throughout the country.
"Arising out of this collaborative effort, I have proposed the creation of a Recycling Authority,"Singh said.The minister said Government is conscious of the need to preserve and protect human health and the natural environment from the risk of oil and chemical spills.
"In this regard," he said, "a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) was yet another policy approved to protect the environment. The policy addresses responsibilities for the abatement and combating of oil pollution within the country's territory, effecting of a coordinated response in minimizing the detrimental effects of oil spills, ensure the availability of appropriate equipment and training and encouraging research into oil spill response, in particular containment and mitigation methods.
"The Government has also established a National Environmental Assessment Task Force (NEATF) under the Chairmanship of the EMA to oversee all activities necessary to address the environmental impacts of the oil spills such as those that occurred at Petrotrin which affected the coastline of the south west Peninsula of Trinidad."
He said the committee will co-ordinate environmental monitoring work and ensure comprehensive environmental data is obtained, assessing the overall impact of the incident, then report the findings, with recommendations.Singh said: "An interim report from the Task Force is currently being considered by Cabinet."
The minister also announced work is ongoing to phase out ozone deflating substances including hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) a refrigerant, and methyl bromide, a fumigant."Import of Methyl Bromide for all applications other than quarantine and pre shipment will cease in 2015. Also the import of all equipment using HCFCs such as Refrigerant 22 (R22) systems, will no longer be allowed from January 1, 2015," he said.
The minister said the industrial sector is one of the largest emitters of green house gases and Government has approved a National Climate Change Policy and is exploring initiatives to reduce those emissions through increased use of new and innovative technologies, clean energy technology and more energy-efficient technologies and practices.He urged local manufacturers to "be globally responsible by adopting and utilising technologies which reduce emissions of green house gases.
"As we move into 2015, and consistent with the National Climate Change Policy the Government will be taking proactive steps to address the increase in emissions from the transport sector by the procurement of clean public transport technology, as practical and economically feasible; in addition there will be continued implementation of a Carbon Emission Reduction Strategy for Trinidad and Tobago.
"In addition, work will also continue on the establishment of an Ambient Air Quality Management Programme for the Improvement of Ambient Air Quality to safeguard human health and the environment. This programme under the EMA involves the design of a national ambient air quality monitoring network for Trinidad and Tobago," Singh said.