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Over 829 tons of tires shipped for recycling
The Solid Waste Management Division under the Department of Public Works recently shipped over 829 tons of used tires to South Korea for recycling.
According to Public Works Secretary James Ada, the recycling facility at the Lower Base transfer station turned over 28 40-foot containers to a contractor for repurposing.
“We have been fortunate enough to process and ship the used tires that will be used for batching concrete in construction. The importation of tires by developing countries is very seasonal and we are pleased to address the overflow of used tires collected over the years using this option,” Ada said.
Ada sais the recycling facility recently purchased a tire shredder for heavy equipment tires to perform proper baling. He further noted that the facility has also collected 85 tons of cardboard and 40 tons of metal, which will also be shipped for processing to free up landfill space.
“We want our community to understand that items that go through the transfer station are sorted out, which is a huge part of the process. The landfill is really a precious resource that we strive to protect and reduce further impact because it is a limited resource,” Ada said.
With the recent appropriation of $2.3 million by the Saipan and Northern Islands Delegation, funding will allow for additional capacity at the Marpi landill, said Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
“As we’ve seen with the former Puerto Rico landfill, it is important that we address solid waste management through available and affordable methods. Sorting out recyclables has been an enormous undertaking, but it plays a significant role in our infrastructure improvements and waste management. We hope that, through these mitigation efforts…we can prevent pollution and other contaminants from leaching into groundwater and our surrounding resources and in time develop more efficient methods for solid waste disposal,” Torres said. (PR)
