World Recycling Day – La Jornada (Bolivia)

On May 17 the World Recycling Day is celebrated as a way to raise awareness of the importance of treating waste as correspond, not to contribute to distortions of climate change, and protect the environment . The governments of most countries in the world have pledged their help to work on the re-use and better treatment of solid waste. One of the most worrying problems arising from the growth of landfills or dumps, which are increasing resistance in rural and sectors intended to bring the garbage in big cities populations.

In Bolivia, conflicts over landfills generate constant blockages and problems, besides being centers of environmental risks and potential sources of infection. The waste treatment seeks on the one hand reduce the percentage of final load of waste taken to landfills or open dumps, which involves a number of risks, including the generation of pollutants resulting from the decomposition. Moreover, waste recycling can recover through activity selection, collection, transportation and sorting. Recycling is the transformation of objects such as cardboard, paper, tin, glass, plastic and organic waste, raw materials that can be reused. It also allows to safer energy batteries and other emerging objects waste items of new technologies, such as cell phones, computers, televisions, microwave ovens and other treatment. Recycling is the third step in a four waste disposal process. The first and most important is the reduction, which means, produce a smaller amount of trash. The second is reusability, ie reuse an object for the purpose for which it was created. The fourth would be the energy recovery plants and incinerators. Recycling saves our natural resources, reduce pollution and create jobs. We must continue efforts to recycle all useful waste, reducing, thus, consumption of oil, water, CO2 emissions and energy consumption. It is an excellent way to reverse climate change and avoid generating tons of trash. “International Recycling Day” is a day I thought to become aware of the importance of treating waste as correspond, not to contribute to the effects of climate change, and protect the environment. Unfortunately, in our country education campaigns and awareness in the treatment of solid organic waste and lack of systematization. Only some initiatives of environmental groups and government agencies occasionally do something. For the next week there are some initiatives in different municipalities with the participation of schoolchildren and some exhibitions. Recycling in other countries has become a generator of employment and contribute to protecting the environment. It is necessary to use the tests and achieved in different places so that all municipalities develop projects skills. There are possibilities for international cooperation and several national and international universities have conducted research on the subject, as well as some NGOs have extensive experience which should be harnessed.