World Interest in Waste Management Program Continues

Representatives from Georgetown, Guyana, are coming to Nova Scotia for a firsthand look at the province's solid waste resource management program.

The four-person delegation arrives on Monday, March 22, to gather information that will help Georgetown develop a waste management strategy.

"It's great to see that Nova Scotia's waste management program continues to attract interest from around the world," said Environment Minister Michel Samson. "We have a real opportunity to export our knowledge and technology to countries like Guyana."

Guyana, with a population of 770,000, is on the northeast coast of South America.

Staff from the department's Environmental Industries and Technology division is organizing the visitors' itinerary, which will include tours of Halifax Regional Municipality's recycling plant and the Otter Lake landfill, the Good Earth Organic Resources Group composting facility in Lower Sackville, and an Enviro-Depot in Halifax.

The group of municipal officials will also meet with people involved in developing and implementing Nova Scotia's solid waste resource management strategy, including Nova Scotia companies and members of the Department of the Environment and Resource Recovery Fund Board.

Nova Scotia has made significant improvements in the way it manages solid waste and in recycling. Thirty-one per cent of solid waste is diverted from landfills, compared with negligible amounts just three years ago. The province's goal is to reach 50 per cent diversion by 2000.