Highland city ‘Zero Waste’ push makes money with 3 Rs

San Jose de las Matas, Dominican Republic.- The highland city of San Jose de las Matas conducts the "Zero Waste" recycling program with which the town manages waste adequately while making money.

The Central Mountain town processes around 12 tons of trash daily of which 75% is organic, 7% cardboard and paper, 7% plastic, 4% disposable diapers, 2% glass, 2% fibers among others.

Quoted by hoy.com.do mayor Jorge Luis Bisonó said the "Zero Waste" program aims to manage, reduce, reuse and recycle the municipality’s solid waste, funded by the German Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and the European Union.

He said over 95% of households sort the trash before pick up, which makes it easy to separate it when taken to the landfill’s collection site.

The official added that plastic, metal and cardboard are sold for as much as 40,000 pesos per month, which are distributed among the project’s 32 employees as an incentive for them to receive training in the topic of recycling.