During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, discussions on the waste management and resource recovery bill began in parliament. This bill will give a legal basis to the circular economy project in Mauritius. Now is the time to implement the bill across the country after it is passed by lawmakers on both sides of the House.
Environment Minister Kavi Ramano aims to create a business around recycling and reusing waste.
Kavi Ramano wants to start a business around recycling and reusing waste. All the legislators, who spoke yesterday in the hemicycle, agree that there is gold in the waste. However, the nation has already spent Rs 1.8 billion to transport the waste to Mare Chicose. The solution, according to Environment Minister Kavi Ramano, is the circular economy.
Fabrice David, member of the Labor Party, wants everything to be done openly. Supporting figures, he says “just for plastic bottles, the government collects Rs 250 million in taxes per year, but only Rs 15 million are paid to recyclers”. He used the same formula to calculate the cost of many other products, including tires, cell phones, electronics, appliances and vehicles.
Another question is that of the deputy, Kushal Lobine of the PMSD who wants to know if Mauritians will have the necessary facilities to sort between the different types of waste and if the garbage collectors will be equipped to recover them separately. The latter declares: “We need means to apply this bill”” To solve the health problem of the country, we must first raise awareness among people to get rid of the mentality “Mo Balie Diva mo la port mo zet kot neighbour,” said MP Khushal Lobin. While accepting this bill, he pointed out that plastic is still a big problem and the task is difficult to solve because every Mauritian throws several kilos of plastic in the trash every year. So how do you collect plastic waste at home and direct it to the right place, when you know that the Mare-Chicose technical landfill is already full and that the authorities had great difficulty in controlling the fire? time The deputy regretted that after several months the authorities could not finalize a contract for the management of the technical discharge. Furthermore, he regretted the situation in the latest Audit report. In order to control the environmental problem, it is also necessary to ensure the necessary means to ensure the application of the provisions of this law, he said. He cites, as examples, the environmental police, whose vehicles leave something to be desired, and the municipality of Vacoas/Phoenix, which has eight vehicles, does not collect waste. The implementation of this bill depends on the necessary logistics, he stressed.
Leopold: “We must monitor microplastics”
Joseph Buisson Léopold, MP for Rodrigues, said he was happy to present the bill and drew attention to the dangers posed by the consumption of microplastics to public health. He noted that plastic containers tend to cause some toxicity to food and liquids. The MP also had to add that Rodrigues took a big step forward by banning single-use plastics a decade ago. Introducing this bill also means “enough is enough,” he says. To obtain good results, he believes that the conception of the economy must be changed. For him, this bill will boost the country’s economy. The first step to eliminating pollution is to stop polluting the environment, he says. At the same time, the MP was keen to point out that if consumer attitudes are changing, it is even more important to ensure effective waste management. In any case, this bill shows the strong will of the government to manage the situation, he added.
