For every resident in Bermuda about a tonne of garbage is disposed of annually, making this small country of 62,000 one of the world?s highest producers of trash per capita ?higher per capita than even New York!

Most people dump their garbage on the roadside on collection day without thinking about it again. But for those 41 employees at the Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Facility, making sure the Island?s trash is disposed of quickly and efficiently is a 24-hour operation. In 2002 Tynes Bay received some 68,081 tons of refuse, an increase of 3.4 per cent over the previous year.

Figures for 2003 are presently being compiled, but considering the amount of trash created by Hurricane Fabian in September there is certain to be another increase on the previous year, something which has been happening since the plant opened in October 1994.

?Our record shows Bermuda?s waste increases two-and-a-half to three percent per annum,? said Vincent Shih, Plant Manager at Tynes Bay.

?At that rate you are doubling your trash in a 24, 25-year span.?

The plant was designed in 1985, but objections on environmental grounds delayed planning approval and caused a delay in the development of the project for three years.

In June 1989 the final clearance to go ahead and construct the $70 million facility.

?Because the design was in 1985, obviously the estimate for the waste generated on the Island was when Marsh Folly was still in existence,? said Mr. Shih.

However, the plant was built with two main streams and a third stream allowed for in the design should the need arise. That time has come, with Russell Wade, Permanent Secretary, Special Projects, having the responsibility of looking into the design aspects of that third stream.

?That is still early days,? he cautioned.

?The initial plan was that the third stream would be required and we were thinking that it would be 15 years into the design life.

?However, instead of 15 it looks like we?ll have it 13-14 years into the design life. This technology is called mass burn technology, but it?s whether we should go with a third stream mass burn or look at other options.?

Said Mr. Shih: ?Each stream is capable of handling 144 tonnes per day and our original intent was to have one stream operating and the other stream as standby, just in case the other stream needed to be repaired or if we had to bring it down for maintenance requirement.

?But now we?re getting to the point where we?re getting on average about 250 tonnes per day. That means there are times there are more than we can burn off. Pre-Christmas season is typical, the tour season is another example where we have exceeded our design capacity.?

?That, in summer time, is usually in excess of 300 tonnes a day,? added Richard Wadden, the Plant Chemist.

Continued Mr. Shih: ?That means that every day during the peak we have left over from the previous day that we will not be able to process. If you?re looking at 50 to 60 tonnes of carry-over every day it wouldn?t take very long before the bunker is full, even though it is pretty big.?

Stream 1 was in operation for 5,533.9 hours in 2002 (63.2 per cent of the year) while Stream 2 was in operation for 7,036.1 hours (80.3 per cent of the year).

?Garbage on Monday to Friday would be high but drops off on Saturday and no intake on Sunday which is your catch-up time,? said Mr. Wade.

?It is when we get down to the bottom of the bunker where garbage has been there for awhile, and it has a bit of an odour to it, that people realise we are here and we?re operating.?

The country boasts being one of the most affluent populations in the world, which obviously contributes to the high volume of waste it produces. ?Bermuda has been number one in many things, and in the amount of waste we generate we also rate pretty high in the world as well,? said Mr. Shih.

?In fact, for per capita waste it exceeds New Yorkers and that probably reflects the affluency of the Island. It is about 3,000lbs per person.?

Mr. Wade points out that there is a high amount of wood waste processed at the plant, while the cruise ships also contribute to the monthly figures during the summer months.

?We get a tremendous amount of wood waste, especially after Fabian when we were just inundated with wood waste from structures and residences,? he stated.

?We got mattresses from the likes of Sonesta and Southampton Princess, all of which came here to be processed.?

The mattresses and other bulky items first go into a shear to be chopped before joining the other trash in a 48-foot high refuse bunker. After incineration and several other processes the treated ash is collected and handled to be mixed into ash concrete blocks, a job contracted to SAL Ltd.

In 2002 some 12,177.94 tonnes of ash was processed, with 1,118.4 tonnes of metal removed from the ash via a machine process. Mr. Wade is amazed at the sheer volume of trash collected on this small island.

?I?m amazed, yes, because a lot more recycling could take place,? he stated.

?We have also looked at better means of processing our ash and to that extent we did visit a facility in the States at the recommendation of one of our overseas consultants.

?They recycle the ash, they take out the ferrous, non-ferrous and any unburned carbon material and go through a process whereby they hand-sought for coins. This particular facility processes ash from the Philadelphia region as well as New York region. They say when they process the New York ash they get more coins and that they make upwards on a couple of hundred thousand dollars taken out of the waste, which they send back to the US Mint and get paid penny for penny for.?

?We sent 20 tonnes of our ash to the States for processing and, yes, we did get coins in our waste as well.?

Said Mr. Wadden: ?We had a very interesting assortment of coins from a lot of different countries, actually. Stuff will come out of couches, people will leave change in a grocery bag.?

Mr. Wade said the intention is to produce better quality ash so the ash blocks will also be of a better quality and subsequently better for the environment.

?This is something we?re looking at for the ash handling side, which will result in a better product at the airport and possibly a better design for foreshore protection,? he said.

Because of the high volume of trash collected, some of it has been transported off the Island for processing.

?The Government realised that we needed to have a plant in place so that all the waste generated today and tomorrow can be handled,? said Mr. Shih who noted that 70 to 80 per cent of the trash generated on the Island comes to Tynes Bay.

?In the past we have been shipping some of the waste overseas and there are signs that the receivers are not willing to receive it much longer. When I say longer it could be a few years, it may be another ten or 15 years, and then they are going to shut us off.

?That is a concern in the UN (United Nations) where they don?t want waste to be transported all over the world, especially from the rich countries to the poor countries. Bermuda, being a good global player, has been continually coming up with options so that we will be self-sustained. Providing local solutions to our own waste is part of our endeavour.?

He added: ?As well as domestic waste generated from the households we also have commercial waste which we have no problems handling right now. There is also the construction waste and then the hazardous waste which we are trying to come up with options to dispose of effectively and feasibly.?

Mr. Shih revealed another issue being looked at was composting, converting raw material into compost material.

?We?re looking at different options, one of which would convert compost material within six weeks instead of six months,? he stated.

Then there is the issue of littering.

?We?re also working from the legislation portion of it of how to enforce it. You can do all you want but if people are not cooperating with you the efforts will probably be wasted.

?We need to get the message across, starting with the very young.?

To that end the Tynes Bay Facility does welcome tours by school groups and other groups.

?We have a lot of tours coming in from the schools to show them what we are trying to do,? said Mr. Shih.

?We?ve found in some cases the little kids do have an impact on the parents...?dad, you?re not supposed to throw that away?.?

Hazardous waste like chemicals, cleaners and paints are also collected at the facility.

?That is handled through the solid waste section and is managed by Clarkston Trott and his crew,? explained Mr. Wade.

?They come in and set up at the base of the chimney, set up a tent and have all the appropriate storage containers, will sort right there and bulk containerise them. They have a container on site with a forklift and they go straight into containers and trans-shipped straight to the dock and then onto the States for processing. Or from here to Dockyard where they will add additional material that we get from the private sector and taken from there.?

He added: ?With the recycling of aluminium, in particular, from the solid waste side under Allan Hunt, they make sufficient money to offset their cost for the other aspects of the operation down at the Recycling Centre at Devon Springs.

?We like to portray that pristine image and we can?t afford to have the aluminium and sweet drink cans and bottles in the hedges, hence recycling. The more we can recycle, the better the image, the more tourist will keep coming and the more businesses will keep setting up here.

?We have no sorting so once it (recyclables) get in the refuse bunker that is it!?

Said Mr. Wadden: ?It is not feasible to sort 300 tonnes of trash a day, there is just no way to do it.? How the plant operates.