Cuba pledges to ‘prioritise’ recycling

Cuba – The Cuban government intends to prioritise actions to develop the domestic recycling industry, the country’s Radio Cadena Gramonte has reported. Its Council of Ministers is to review the performance of the sector and draft a new recycling law, while also setting prices to encourage collection and recovery of recyclables.

The intention is also to secure new recycling technology as well as foreign investment in the sector. Specific actions will include disassembly of idled industrial facilities that contain large volumes of metal scrap.

Investment will also be made in a shipbreaking site in western Cuba, says the general vice-director of the Cuban recycling industry Marilyn Ramos, in order to increase its capabilities and to process the boats abandoned along the country’s shoreline. The setting-up of a new plastics recycling plant in the province of Cienfuegos has also been scheduled.

Government officials claim that Cuba recycled over 420 000 tonnes of material in 2013 and thus saved up to US$ 220 million by reducing raw material import requirements. Replacement of ‘costly imports’ with local volumes is ‘crucial’, says Ramos.