New landfill may double waste disposal cost

It cost the CNMI government $15 to $20 a ton to manage Puerto Rico Dump. When the new landfill is built in Marpi, it will cost the administration $40 to $50 a ton to maintain the new facility.

Due to increasing cost of solid waste management, there is a very strong need to teach the people the value of recycling. Educating the people on the need to recycle their waste should be done simultaneously with the establishment of a Marpi landfill, said John Harder, solid waste manager.

Harder who has worked in Hawaii helping officials develop a comprehensive solid was management plan for 10 years, said the CNMI can learn a lot from Hawaii in terms of how it solved its waste problem.

While waiting for the Marpi landfill facility to be built, Harder said managing Puerto Rico Dump to ensure that the CNMI does not violate the Environmental Protection Agency regulations is a top priority.

“We don’t want to make it look that there is a big thrash out there. We want to make sure that it is well managed,” Harder said.

Aside from helping the Department of Public Works in the designing the Marpi landfill, Harder said the company that has been chosen by DPW will also help draw up an Integrated Waste Planning, a concept that was similarly used in Hawaii.

“It simply means looking at the most economical way of addressing the dump,” he said.

Since this involves recycling method, the participation of the public especially various business is very important. Harder emphasized the importance of taking into consideration the public’s suggestions on how to best implement recycling program since its success will greatly depend on their participation.

For example, the huge scraps of cloth from garment factories can be shipped back to the mills where these came from. Aluminum cans can be separated and collected since these can be sold. Green waste such as yard trimmings bushes and trees can be processed by using a grinding machine and later on used for mulch or compost to improve the quality of soil.

While the some officials favor the installation of an incinerator, they should be aware that maintenance of this facility would be very costly since it will all depend on the type of technology that will be adopted.

A very simple incinerator can burn only 60 percent of the total waste collected but complex ones can burn as much as 90 percent. I can cost as much as $60 a ton to operate an incinerator that can handle 2,000 ton a day of waste.

Although a huge chunk of waste is burned, it is still important to operate a landfill to dispose of the ashes .Since the incinerator has to be shutdown for maintenance for one month every year, the solid waste to be accumulated during that period will have to be accommodated in the landfill.

The CNMI government has set aside 100 acres for the Marpi landfill to prepare for long range planning.

Harder said the complexity of maintaining an incinerator on an island where people are not yet trained to handle this type of technology may also cause a problem, thus, the need to train and prepare the people who would be tapped to handle the job.

“Right now, the most important thing for us to do is work on the landfill while at the same time managing the dump to make sure that it does not pose health hazard,” said Harder.