Saba stops burning household waste

Saba reached a milestone in its waste management strategy as the island has ended the practice of burning residue household waste.

Commissioner of Infrastructure Bruce Zagers announced the development on Wednesday.

Zagers said the practice was stopped in November 2022 when the island began exporting waste products to be processed at a waste-to-energy plant in Florida.

The only items currently being incinerated are wood and medical waste.

The Public Entity Saba said it is exploring ways to further reduce the frequency of burning by acquiring a commercial wood chipper to process the waste into mulch.

 The chipped wood can then be used as mulch.

‘This would leave only a very small amount of medical waste that needs to be burned since it cannot be exported,” Public Entity Saba said.

Saba’s waste disposal has made a complete turnaround from what took place previously.

All waste use to be transported to the landfill to be burned without any kind of separation. The Public Entity said that led to uncontrolled fires, the creation of mosquito breeding areas and an infestation of flies that affected residents and schoolchildren in St John’s and The Bottom.

A partnership between the Cadwell INC Company in Florida and the Public Entity Saba resulted in Waste Management staff being trained on the proper separation of material.

Last year, the island exported a record 50 shipping containers with recyclables to the US for further processing.

 “The team at the landfill and the collectors have also shown their commitment to working towards these improvements and because of their efforts, we have achieved these results,” said Zagers.