Erbil second city in Kurdistan Region to announce new recycling initiative
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – One day after the mayor of Sulamiani announced new recycling regulations, an official from the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil announced a new program to separate recyclable materials from garbage there as well.
“In the beginning, the initiative will include the hotels, restaurants, and cafes as the owners have already been notified that they should separate glass and plastic from the trash,” Shakur Aziz, deputy head of the government office that oversees restaurants and hotels in Erbil, told Kurdistan 24,
“The aim is to reuse the materials that don’t break down in the environment. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules will find that their waste will not be collected, which should eventually force them to comply with the decision.”
According to official figures released by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), 700 to 750 tons of plastic are thrown away on a daily basis in the Kurdistan Region. In Erbil alone, 200 to 250 tons of plastic is thrown away, only 10 percent of which is recycled.
Hazhir Ibrahim from the Kurdistan Environment-Friendly Organization told Kurdistan 24, “We are looking to implement the recycling program all over the Kurdistan Region. There are several companies that process discarded plastic, but this is very weak so far because the people are not separating it all, making the job for the companies much more difficult.”
“Aside from protecting our environment, these efforts also help provide job opportunities, since the KRG has already made contracts with several recycling companies to convert the plastic in a non-toxic process,” added Ibrahim.
Waste is one of the most significant challenges facing the world today as some 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally, according to some estimates.
In recent years several local organizations in the Kurdistan Region have launched a campaign to encourage recycling by placing separate garbage bins in schools and universities as a first step and later expanding it to other locations.
On Wednesday, mayor's office of the city of Sulaimani announced its decision to officially initiate a recycling program, separating trash from recyclable material.
Read More: Kurdistan’s Sulaimani becomes first in Iraq to separate garbage bins for food, plastics, glass
The move will see three garbage bins placed inside the building of the office: one for food waste, one for plastics, and the other for glass items.
“Our objective is to protect the environment and the citizen’s health as well as raise social awareness among people on the risks of polluting,” said Sulaimani Mayor Awat Mohammed in a statement.
Editing by John J. Catherine