Santa Cruz: The Booming Metropolis

The largest and most comprehensive waste management center in the Galápagos is appropriately on the most populated island – Santa Cruz. The Fabricio Valverde Environmental Park is located in the highlands outside of Puerto Ayora, the main city of Isla Santa Cruz. The waste management center was set up by the Fundación Galápagos Ecuador, with funding from donors such as the municipal government, international corporations, and NGO’s such as the World Wildlife Fund. It represents a cooperative effort between the government, the national park and the Fundación Galápagos Ecuador.

This waste management center is unique in the sense that each worker (there are 9 in total) has their own specific piece of recycling to take care of. For instance, one worker is assigned plastic bottles, another is assigned glass bottles, while another worker will pull together all of the cardboard boxes. This type of structure enables efficiency and a straightforward approach to processing all of the waste that comes through the center. In addition to the waste processing stations, the environmental park includes a comprehensive learning station for students and visitors.

Different types of waste are handled in different ways. Paper and cardboard are compacted and then shipped back to mainland Ecuador for recycling. The system of paper and cardboard recycling is comprehensive and begins at each home on the island, where residents have been educated in the separation of paper and cardboard. Plastic materials are also separated and then ground up at the recycling center. The plastic materials are fed into a machine where they are heated and broken down depending on the fineness that is requested. The final ranges from very small pellets to coarser, irregular pieces of plastic. The ground plastic is sent back to the mainland and used for distribution in a variety of different products, such as park benches and stuffed animals.

On site there is also a glass grinding machine. In the same set-up as the plastic grinding machine, the glass particles can come out very fine or larger, depending on what is desired. The glass is not sent back to the mainland however, but is rather mixed with cement and then turned into paving stones. The paving stones are then sold to the municipality, and the profits in turn act as a source of funding for the recycling center. As the glass never leaves the island, the energy costs associated with transporting materials to and from the islands are saved.

In addition to these main recycling areas, there is a composting facility on site for organic waste. The waste is compiled and left out in a field to decompose and return to the ground. A specially designed metal drum is used to speed up the process, as high humidity and heat inside the drum hastens the decomposition of organic waste. Less land is devoted to composting because of the machine, freeing up more land for other uses.

The Fabricio Valverde Environmental Park is a significant step in the right direction, relative to the waste management system it replaced. Previously, all of the un-separated waste from Santa Cruz was dumped, into a landfill outside of Puerto Ayora. The system also continues to grow: from 2000 to 2005, the total amount of material recycled increased by around 1200% (Fundacion Galapagos).

The current system is also much more comprehensive, and has a smaller impact on the fragile island ecosystem. Given the resources available on Santa Cruz, the amount of recycling going on is remarkable. For example, although the GDP of the residents of Santa Cruz is less than one fifth that of the United States, the rate of recycling is nearly identical. With a rate of around 30% of all waste being recycled, the island of Santa Cruz is comparable to more developed nations such as those of Northern Europe and North America (BBC News). Although still relatively new, and a work in progress, Santa Cruz presents a framework for the other islands to follow in waste management techniques and operations, and a precedent for the world at large.