Domestic waste will be recycled across Bahrain under a new scheme to reduce garbage and save energy, our sister newspaper, the Gulf Daily News reported.
It will be implemented in homes in Budaiya first and will include a garbage separation system, by dividing waste into paper and cardboard, plastic, metals, glass and packaging materials.
Households will be provided with different colored rubbish bags, which will be collected by private companies.
It comes in line with the specialized colored bins set up in commercial buildings to recycle paper, plastic bottles, metal cans and white and colored glass.
The initiative is being spearheaded by the Northern Municipality and the Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry, which have already signed agreements with garbage collecting companies.
According to the latest statistics, environmentalists say up to 75 per cent of domestic waste can be recycled.
"Recycling was introduced in commercial buildings like shopping centers, malls, private schools and some businesses, but it was never extended to include homes," said municipality director-general Yousif Al Ghatam, who is also the National Cleaning Committee chairman.
"Home wastes in Bahrain are of an alarming figure with 287,205 tons in 2007 and increased to 402,241 tons in 2009, which is an increase of 29 per cent and people can just imagine where that number has reached today by just adding 20 per cent to the 2009 figure.”
"The average solid waste per person is 1.5kg a day and that's high compared to Oman, where it is 0.6kg to 0.9kg, and European giant Germany where it is 1.1kg."
Al Ghatam said after the pilot phase in Budaiya, the scheme would be launched across the country.
"We have to teach people from a young age about the importance of recycling and its effects on the community and resources," he said.
Awareness campaigns will also be rolled out to reach a wider audience and encourage more people to recycle. "We will have some awareness campaigns about the scheme's benefits and hopefully within a few months it will be turned into a lifestyle that immediately kicks in within communities as we enter a new phase in cleanliness," he added.
TradeArabia News Service
4 November
