Program Details

Problem:

Plastic is contaminating the environment due to burning at the municipal dump, plastic thrown on the floor around town, and various inorganic wastes found in the ocean, on the coasts, and in other water ways. Of course, this affects not only people but also other wildlife living in these diverse habitats. In addition, plastic thrown around the streets of San Juan del Sur makes the town look ugly for tourists, as well as local residents, and investors. In other words, it does not attract tourism. The other problem is that local youths do not have the habit to recycle or even put trash in the right place. The Municipal Recycling Program was created to address these problems.

Solution:

The Municipal Recycling Program is a type of project known as “PPP,” which means Public-Private Project. In other words, it is an initiative with leadership from the private sector (Hotel Pelican Eyes…Piedras y Olas) and the public sector (Mayor’s Office of San Juan del Sur). The other stakeholders are non-profit organizations such as Comunidad Connect and DED. The hotel and the Mayor’s Office collaborate in a sustainable manner so that this project can become a model not just for other municipalities, but also for other sectors of the diverse community of San Juan del Sur in other activities that benefit the entire community.

Phases:

This project has several phases. The first step was to develop an idea and look for funds to start it. Comunidad Connect contacted DED and together with this German aid organization, presented the idea to Pelican Eyes…Piedras y Olas and to the Mayor’s Office of San Juan del Sur. The Mayor’s Office provided the project with the space and the workers to separate the recyclable materials and prepare them for the sale to a collector in Managua, while the hotel has agreed to make a financial contribution to develop the project and will serve as a model business with its recycling initiatives.

After the training of the workers for the posts at the municipal trash dump, we focused on the development of the various components of the social marketing of this project with the technical assistance of DED. With these instruments we can promote the project and execute its three different phases.

Executive Phases:

Collection, separation, and initial sale of plastic at the municipal trash dump
Collection, separation, and processing of organic materials using worm castings, and composting techniques.
Education and Nursery
1. Education of the population and the business community of San Juan del Sur to achieve separation at the origin.
2. Creation of a plant nursery which will use the top soil from the worm castings and composting of organic materials.

Collection and Separation:

The population can be a part of the solution by not throwing plastic on the street and by collecting trash thrown around the houses and places of work. In addition, we ask the residents of San Juan del Sur to separate the plastic bottles and other types of plastic in bags different from the rest of the trash, in their house or place of work. The municipal trucks will collect the recyclable materials on specific days of the week. The other trash will be collected daily, as before. Although we will always have workers at the municipal dump collecting and separating the plastic, the effort is collective and in this way, together, we can contribute to resolving the problem of plastic thrown everywhere in our community. The types of plastic needed for recycling are:

All types of plastic bottles (green, blue, and clear)
Jugs and gallon containers for milk
Plastic chairs and tables
Boxes and containers made of hard plastic
Shampoo bottles

The restaurants of San Juan del Sur can separate their organic kitchen waste en bags of a color different from the rest of their trash in addition to separating their plastic bottles.

The Sale:

When the plastic is collected, separated, and packaged, we sell it to a company in Managua which then exports it together with the waste from other municipalities to recycling plants in Guatemala or Costa Rica. To this day, there is no recycling plant in Nicaragua. The recyclable material is used in various plastic goods, such as bags. The income from the sale goes directly to expand the program and improve its management. A portion of the funds will be used specifically in the neighborhoods of San Juan del Sur with the highest rate of participation in the recycling program.

Map:

Dowload High Resolution Map