Re-using, recycling and reducing waste from the source are no longer foreign concepts these days, representing basic measures we can all do in our daily lives to contribute to the protection of the environment. With a stronger focus on community environmental protection, Macau is also being increasingly equipped with the resources to carry out environmental protection activities and to raise residents’ awareness on this important matter.
The new Alegria Environmental Centre in Mong-Há, the seventh such centre under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA), was recently inaugurated at the Mong-Há Social Housing complex, with the aim of expanding the community’s resource recycling network.
Opened on April 22 to commemorate World Earth Day, the centre is one of the largest of its kind in Macau and is expected to become a base for environmental education of the community, especially considering its location in a housing area surrounded by schools.
This newly opened space is provides new services for the collection of a variety of waste items, with the installation of the first intelligent food waste collection machine and a recycling zone open 24 hours a day.
The smart food waste collection machine allows residents to more conveniently and cleanly recycle waste, with an automatic weighing and recording function, as well as odour elimination. The instructions for using the machine indicate which food items can be disposed of, for example meat, vegetables and eggshells, and which materials cannot be collected, such as bones and seafood shells.
“Citizens can bring their food waste to the centre in containers, draining out as much liquid from the food as possible, and put the waste directly into the machine,” the DSPA explains. The weight limit for each collection of food waste to be recycled is 3kg. The collection targets household food waste, and this limit is sufficient for the daily volume per person, the DSPA adds.
From this machine, the collected food waste is then transported every day to the Macau Solid Waste Incineration Plant, located at the Pac-On landfill.
“Through a composting process, the food waste is turned into organic fertiliser, which will be provided to the Institute for Municipal Affairs and DSPA for green space developments,” the DSPA notes.
Some of the fertiliser produced from the food waste will be packaged in small, 100g packets to be distributed free to the public. Already, more and more gardening and arboricultural companies are requesting the use of this eco-friendly fertiliser.
“The idea of constant reuse is very meaningful, and the sense of community participation is also important. In fact, some restaurants participating in our Food Waste Collection pilot project are also benefiting from this, being able to take the fertiliser packets and offer them to customers and staff. The public can thus know where the collected waste has gone and what it has become,” the DSPA says.
According to data from the DSPA, the six other stations in the city have already collected a total of seven tonnes of food waste since the start of this service.
The new Alegria Environmental Centre in Mong-Há also offers “three-colour” recyclable waste and glass bottle collection services at the 24-hour recycling zone located near the entrance of the facility. The DSPA hopes this will encourage even more citizens to participate in recycling.
“There are a number of people in Macau who work shifts, and there are also residents who are not able to come and deposit their waste during the centre’s opening hours. The 24-hour collection zone is suitable for those who have to leave for work at 4am in the morning, or for those who do sports at 7 in the morning, and even during public holidays”.
In this area, there is also an intelligent machine for the collection of plastic bottles and cans which is capable of detecting what type of container it is and weighing it at collection, thus avoiding objects that contain liquid during recycling.
Paper, aluminium and plastic items are collected from the blue, yellow and brown containers, respectively, and the DSPA explains that these are transported daily to the company responsible for the separation of these materials.
“They are cleaned, simply sorted and weighed, and then transferred to the recycling company to be further sorted, compressed and packaged.”
The DSPA guarantees that the recycled waste collected will not be mixed with other domestic waste for incineration. Some of the materials collected will be sent to neighbouring regions for recycling and processing. Paper can be used to make recycled paper, plastic bottles can also be recycled, and glass is transported to specialised facilities, where it is cut into small pieces and further processed, some of it to be used for paving.
According to environmental statistics recently released by the Statistics and Census Service last year, the Solid Waste Incineration Centre treated a total of 453,152 tons of solid urban waste, which represents an increase of over 3.6% in annual terms.
Estimates also indicate that the current daily per capita disposal of municipal solid waste is 1.74 kg. The Solid Waste Management Planning of Macao has a goal to reduce this to 1.48 kg by 2026.
The Alegria Environmental Centre in Mong-Há also includes an exhibition area, a mini-library, a goods-sharing corner, a reading room and a multi-purpose space. Locals are also encouraged to leave reusable objects, such as toys, clothes, books and even bicycles, so that those in need can take them home. Some furniture and electronic devices are also reused in order to make the most of the recycling process.
The DSPA says the centre will continue to develop as a base for environmental education in communities.
“There will be more workshops, guided tours and activities organised at this centre for schools, associations and the general public. Visitors can learn the correct procedures for reuse and recycling, increasing environmental protection awareness”,
In the first half of this year, 80 visit sessions have already been scheduled across all the city’s environmental centres, involving around 2,000 citizens.
The DSPA opened the first Alegria Environmental Centres in 2018 in Seac Pai Van, Ilha Verde, Toi San, Iao Hon, Manduco, Ponte Negra and Taipa.
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