USAID Donates Essential Equipment for Waste Management in Samaná

Cross posted from El Nuevo Diario

EL NUEVO DIARIO, SAMANÁ – The Government of the United States through the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered essential equipment and resources for waste management, for a value of more than RD$ 5.9 million (US$ 100,000), to local authorities and recycling companies in the province of Samaná.

According to a press document, the donation, made to the Ministry of the Environment, consisted of public waste and recycling containers, which will be installed in high traffic areas in Samaná, Las Terrenas and the natural attractions of Salto del Limón and the José National Park Armando Bermudez.

It also included motorized tricycles delivered to the Samaná City Council, to improve waste collection services, even on narrow or busy roads; and other teams that will strengthen the services provided by Reciclajes Bahía, to community recycling points, schools and other local businesses supported by USAID.

In addition, a new recycling truck and a generator were donated that will allow, through Reciclajes Bahía, the on-site processing of recyclable materials, which will be sent to Santiago. In parallel, the agency works with local authorities to strengthen solid waste management plans and services, including waste collection services and routes to optimize efficiency, increase service area and adapt to increasing climate events.

Since 2020, USAID, the Government of the Dominican Republic and the local authorities of the province of Samaná have been working to reduce land-based sources of plastic pollution in the oceans, beginning with the remediation of two of the province’s open landfills, which reduced its harmful environmental impacts, including the leakage of waste into the environment. The partners then continued to improve other elements of the local waste system to achieve more sustainable and robust management.

Thanks to the support of USAID and local associations, more than 545,000 metric tons of waste have been safely managed in the province, including more than 70,000 metric tons of plastic (the equivalent of more than 8 billion plastic bottles). USAID and its partners in the province of Samaná hope to take advantage of this progress to achieve cleaner cities and seas.

About the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program

USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program was launched in August 2019 as the agency’s flagship program to respond to the global ocean plastic pollution crisis. The six-year, $67 million global program works in ten priority countries to address ocean plastic pollution directly at its source. In the Dominican Republic, the program is supporting the Government in advancing solid waste management and is participating in the province of Samaná to implement and test scalable waste and recycling solutions.