Holding facility for e-waste should be ready by year end Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

A facility leased for the holding of e-waste should be ready for operation before year-end, says Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), Audley Gordon.

In an interview with JIS News, Gordon said that “the Government must have in place a facility that can be the go-to for those discarded items and we want to fill that gap”.

The property, located in St. Catherine, is currently undergoing work to make it suitable for e-waste holding.

“We are doing actual retrofitting of that property. We have applied for the [environmental] permit for that property also, to do e-waste over in Hill Run [and] to make it the official e-waste holding area for us,” added Mr. Gordon.

He explained that retrofitting would include fencing of the area and the installation of containers with office spaces and restrooms.

Overseeing the general process, Mr. Gordon said that he is confident that by October the facility should be “more than ready”.

Once in operation, persons commuting in the general area of Hill Run can drop off their e-waste at the facility.

With Jamaica being a consumer market and an importer of electronic items, the NSWMA Head said he anticipates the islandwide collection of e-waste to be “major” and has started the process of seeking international markets for local e-waste.

The NSWMA recently announced that citizens can now take e-waste to any of its facilities islandwide, encouraging persons to no longer place discarded electronics among household waste.

E-waste is electronic products that are unwanted, not working, and nearing or at the end of their useful life.

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