Waste separation can help cut labour cost

IMPLEMENTING waste segregation practices at home will aid local recycling firms in cutting down unnecessary labour requirements needed to separate the composition of the country's municipal solid waste, an established recycling company said.

An operations manager at the company, who wished to remain anonymous, said recycling is a labour-intensive business in Brunei as waste collected by firms at the end of the day are not separated as they should be. "If the segregation of waste, such as separating glass, metal, paper, started at home, it would be much better for recycling companies in terms of the utilisation of labour and resources," he said, adding that this is where education and public awareness comes in to ensure united efforts in successfully managing the country's growing number of municipal solid waste in the future.

The Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) has previously suggested practising proper solid waste management practices reduce, reuse, and recycle as simple actions that can be integrated both on the individual and household levels in correlation to government efforts.

By 2030, CSPS estimates (cumulative) that Brunei will be faced by a challenge to manage seven million tonnes of solid waste. According to 2006 figures from the Department of Environment, Park and Recreation (Jastre), the composition of waste in Brunei is 36 per cent food scraps, 18 per cent paper, 16 per cent plastics, six per cent yard waste and six per cent diapers,

About 70 per cent of total solid waste collected, including organic waste, plastic and cans, can be recycled to reduce the number of waste dumped in the landfill. Combine it with a daily paper waste production of 54 tonnes, the CSPS said the materials offer good opportunities for starting a recycling industry.

The construction of a recycling plant is among the alternative methods that will be considered by the Brunei Economic Development Board and the Jastreto dispose of Brunei-Muara District's municipal solid waste.

The two agencies have already embarked on a long-discussed project that will result in a more systematic process for the district's pressing issues on waste management system and are looking at a complete overhaul of the current process. The last of the three-phase project, which involves a study on the possibility of alternative methods to dispose waste, (such as through incineration, decomposition or recycling) is aimed at determining the amount of rubbish generated daily, the composition of waste, and the overall feasibility of setting up a recycling facility in Brunei.

The operations manager of the said recycling firm, however, said that the current volume of recoverable materials from recyclable waste in Brunei is not enough to make it economically feasible for Brunei to establish a recycling plant. Added with the factor that the country has insufficient industrial activities to ensure sound financial returns from recycling, he said that the construction of such a facility might be economically feasible if it was done on a "macro-economic scale".

International trading prices for recyclable materials recently hit a sudden low, said the operations manager, whose company had to readjust prices of materials such as ferrous and non-ferrous metals and paper for export to countries like China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

His company, which previously recycled and exported plastic, stopped processing them due to expensive shipping charges in Brunei. Most firms in the country possess the equipment and facilities to recycle various types of metals, paper and plastic while other companies have started collecting electronic waste, such as unused personal computers, to keep the business running. (HHM1)

The Brunei Times