The executive vice president of the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) and president of the non-profit association Nueva Vida para los Residuos (NUVI), announced the implementation of a new waste management system, during the BIOPACTO event, convened by the companies Termopac and Plastifar.
The initiative will include actions to promote separation at the source of foam waste, establish selective collection routes, collect the material to take it to recycling or energy recovery processes, as well as implement education and communication campaigns about the initiative.
Mario Pujols explained that “the integrated management of solid waste and the circular economy have been two issues to which we have dedicated a lot of effort from AIRD,” he said, referring to the importance of responsible waste management in the Dominican Republic. and the need to promote sustainability in the industrial operations of its associates.
Initiative
The business representative expressed himself in these terms at an event convened jointly by the companies Termopac and Plastifar to sign BIOPACTO, an initiative that seeks to transform the production and management of expanded polystyrene waste, also known as foam (fon), into the Dominican Republic.
Pujols detailed how NUVI has been working to promote a culture of reducing, reusing, recycling and making use of waste in the country. Since 2020, through the NUVI PET management system, the first in the country, 2.8 million pounds of PET bottles have been collected through the Collective Society, which is equivalent to 53.2 million plastic bottles on the market.
He also stressed that the collected waste will be valued through recycling, with a first phase that will consist of a pilot plan where the separation of post-industrial and post-consumer foam will be promoted to lead them to the recycling process.
This announcement represents an important step in the promotion of the circular economy in the Dominican Republic, by showing the commitment of local industries in the implementation of sustainable strategies and responsible waste management.
The activity was attended by President Luis Abinader, the Minister of the Presidency Joel Santos, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes Víctor -Ito- Bisonó, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco; the president of the AIRD, Julio Virgilio Brache; the president of CONEP, Celso Juan Marranzini, as well as Alejandro Farach and Manuel Diez, presidents of Plastifar and Termopac, respectively.