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For two days, Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17, the Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy hosted the second "Zero Waste in the Caribbean" seminar. The event was orchestrated by Syvade (Syndicat de valorisation des déchets de la Guadeloupe), which is piloting the project as part of the Interreg program. The event was attended by elected officials and representatives of organizations from several of the region's islands: Luc Mercelina, Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Louis Mussington, President of the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, Kyle Hodge, Minister of Economic Development, Commerce, Lands, Water and Natural Resources of Anguilla, Buce Zagers, Commissioner of Saba, as well as speakers from Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe and Martinique. On Saturday May 17, at the close of the seminar, they all signed a document dubbed the "Gustavia Appeal for the Environment". This was the culmination of a series of meetings and discussions that were as rich in information as they were intense in reflection. After all, the notion of regional cooperation on waste issues is as necessary as it is complex.
"Finding answers
Indeed, in the course of the workshops and other discussions held in the Salle des délibérations or the Salle des mariages at the Hôtel de la Collectivité, the prospects for collaboration between the various islands were opened up and, at times, somewhat narrowed. This is due to regulatory constraints that, at first glance, seem almost incompatible between certain territories. Today, we need to find solutions," explains Xavier Lédée, President of the Collectivité. Saint-Barthélemy is ahead of the game, but not everything is well managed. We still have two complicated issues: sargassum and construction waste. "The aim of the seminar was to discover the systems used on the other islands, and to find out whether a partnership could be envisaged. For example, the "Saint-Barth model" is perfect for the island, but cannot be applied to many others. In fact, each island has its own model.
It's not possible to build a plant like the one in Saint-Barthélemy on Saba," says Fabrice Devaed, Director of Strategic Projects at Syvade. Our aim is to coordinate synergies and harmonize needs. Our aim is to coordinate synergies and harmonize needs," says Fabrice Devaed, Director of Strategic Projects at Syvade, "in particular to bring together islands and territories that are in a position to rapidly and concretely develop one or more partnerships. For example, Anguilla, Saba and Saint-Eustache signed an agreement at the end of the seminar. The idea is to set up a converter on these islands," explains Fabrice Devaed. This would enable them to stop landfilling. The converter would produce a combustible fluff that would be transported and processed in Sint Maarten. So we use Sint Maarten's space to relieve the other islands. "
Joint solutions
The complexity of waste transport regulations is often an obstacle to cooperation. For some islands, the converter is a solution. Frédéric Baudet, shareholder in the Idex Triber group, explains how it works. The law governing the transport of waste is the Basel Convention," he explains. It prohibits the transport of waste across borders. But if we set up CSR (solid recovered fuel) units on each island, we can transform waste into a product, as it becomes a fuel. "It can then be transported by barge from one island to another.
Needless to say, the economic question cannot be ignored. Even if a public entity launches a project, the private sector must then take over. With this in mind, partners need to be identified. The public sector is there to facilitate things, but it's not there to invest money in ten or twenty years' time," insists Fabrice Devaed. If there's no profitability, there's no point. But it will be. The reason Sint Maarten wants to recover waste for fuel is to power its plant, which will then generate electricity. "And create jobs in the process.
In the field of waste treatment, thanks to the structures of the Paprec plant (managed by Ouanalao Environnement) which also produce water and soon electricity, Saint-Barth is 25 years ahead of its Caribbean neighbors. Stéphane Bertrand, Director of Development for Paprec Energies, sums up: "Each territory has its own solution. Saint-Barthélemy is an example rather than a model. You have to get to know the area and its history. The incineration plant in Saint-Barth in 1990 is not the ecopole it is today. "The importance of demonstrating the know-how developed within Paprec structures. If only to broaden the field of possibilities for all seminar participants.
