Twelve thousand gallons of waste oil is scheduled  to be exported by the end of July as the Department of Waste Management continues its quest of achieving a cleaner, greener and more beautiful Virgin Islands.

Director, Mr. Marcus Solomon said that the department is ecstatic to be able to divert this oil from the landfill, which lowers our vulnerabilities to adhoc fires.  This is also significant because this positions BVI to do our part to meet global sustainability development goals by repurposing waste material where possible.”

The Director thanks the community for their involvement in helping the department to realise this milestone, however there are a few things that can be done to further enhance the collection processes. 

“We want the public to refrain mixing oil and gas together in the same container as there are separate storage identified for each.  We also want small quantities of waste oil from households, small commercial businesses, hotels, restaurants and government organisations to be taken directly to the collection facility   Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  Finally, we want persons to refrain from dumping garbage at the waste oil facility.  Garbage can be placed inside of community dumpsters, it can be discarded using the house to house collection programme or taken directly to dumpsites which are located throughout the Territory,” Mr. Solomon advised.

The Ministry of Health and Social Development is committed to ensuring that all aspects of the environment with the potential to negatively influence the health of the population are managed efficiently, to enable all persons in the BVI to attain and maintain optimal health and well-being.