Government to advance national pilot for waste separation in public facilities

The Government will advance a full national pilot for waste separation in public facilities by the end of the fiscal year in March 2027.

Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change, Matthew Samuda, made the announcement during his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“Jamaica’s waste stream remains largely co-mingled, driving landfill pressure and marine leakage. We are implementing source separation, organic, recyclable and residual streams, supported by public education, infrastructure roll-out and private-sector participation,” the Minister said.

Samuda shared that in the 2024 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by Yale University, Jamaica sits at 68 out of 180 countries assessed.

The 2024 EPI combines 58 indicators across 11 issue categories, ranging from climate change mitigation and air pollution to waste management, sustainability of fisheries and agriculture, deforestation and biodiversity protection.

“It is important for us to confront the areas in which Jamaica is not assessed to be progressing at the right pace. In areas such as climate change, we’re ranked number 23 in the world in our management of the subject; marine protection, 27, but there are areas of particular challenge. Certainly, waste management and our red list index, we are at 164 and 138 respectively,” he detailed.

The Red List Index (RLI) measures trends in the extinction risk of species.

He reasoned that in the areas that Jamaica is doing well, the Government wants to entrench the work.

“In the areas we’re not doing well, we want to invest more and give greater focus to ensure we move up the ranking and, indeed, protect our environment,” Samuda said.

Turning to air quality, Samuda said it is an area of concern and a public health imperative.

The Minister advised that the Government will advance plans for the introduction of tailpipe testing this year.

“We are tightening emission standards at stationary sources, enhancing vehicular inspection regimes and piloting low-cost sensor networks to complement reference grade monitors. The policy objective is measurable to reduce PM2.5 and nitrous oxide exposure, especially in urban corridors and near industrial clusters,” he said.

Samuda pointed out that pollution of air, land and marine undermines public health and economic productivity.

He shared that small island developing states like Jamaica are on the front line.

“Sea level rise, coral bleaching, coastal erosion and extreme weather events impose fiscal burdens and disrupt livelihoods. Our policy posture, therefore, must be anticipatory, science-led and economically disciplined,” he said.

- JIS News

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