Georgetown: The Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill (HBSL) is currently processing more than 10,000 tonnes per month, although it was designed to receive 6,000 tonnes of solid waste per month, according to Head of the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Team, Mr. Gordon Gilkes.
Gilkes is urging the public to reduce the amount of waste taken to the landfill by practising the 3 Rs; namely: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
He said: “We are, at the moment, at about 60% of Cell # one.” He pointed out: “It should be remembered that the operations of the HBSL were started prematurely, because of the situation at Le Repentir. The thing is that the operation and construction is being done at the same time.”
The HBSL commenced operation on February 1st, 2011, and has been receiving waste for about 33 months. Up to last week, Gilkes disclosed, the landfill had received in excess of 340,000 tonnes of waste. The HBSL is supposed to last for twenty-six years, but at the current rate of usage, it may last far less.
He said that the GSWMP is aware of more technologies today than when the HBSL was conceptualized.
“There are other technologies which can reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills. Utilizing those, it is hoped, should extend the life of the HBSL as close as possible to 26 years.”
Ongoing work includes the construction of an Administration Building housing offices, canteen and workshop; a scale and scale-house, to weigh the incoming waste and categorize it; construction of internal access roads, and a storm-water management system.
A landfill gas management system is on the cards for some time in the future, because the facility is at the moment still too young to start producing gas. There are also plans to install a composting facility to help reduce the amount of bio-waste which goes into the landfill.
The HBSL is the main component of the GSWMP. It is financed to the tune of US7.7M dollars through a loan agreement entered into between the Government of Guyana (GOG) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which took effect from February 22, 2007.
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