OVERVIEW OF GUANAPO SITE.
engineered wetland system, built in collaboration with the ENMAN Group (featured in Sustainable Business Magazine issue 04/16). “We at SWMCOL are very excited about it,” says Mr. Roach. “The central government provided us with a limited budget to treat the leachate, so we were looking for a low-cost system, and over the course of our research, we concluded that an engineered wetlands solution would be within budget and sustainable.” SWMCOL put out a tender for this unusual project. “Mr. Baldeosingh of ENMAN and his team sent us a very good proposal,” says Mr. Roach. “They have worked on identifying local plant species which have the ability to absorb the toxic components of the leachate, and developing a nursery to grow those plants. The project will serve to
benefit the environment at Guanapo, and then we can begin to replicate it at our other sites, which is another great part about it. The wetland will be up and running by early 2017, and then it’s a case of monitoring and testing.” LOW-COST SUSTAINABILITY An engineered wetlands system is a cost-effective option for SWMCOL compared to purchasing a package treatment plant. “Those package treatment plants tend to have a lot of mechanical components,” explains Mr. Roach. “Because they’re purchased from abroad, they use foreign exchange, and it begins to become quite expensive. This system will focus on using local plants. That way, our people can easily learn the process and implement it
GUANAPO LEACHATE TREATMENT PONDS.
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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