Environmental Health officials expect that a new compactor should help alleviate the daily burden of waste entering Grand Cayman’s only landfill.
Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin and Department of Vehicle and Equipment Services Director Richard Simms handed over the $450,000 “Aljon 500” compactor to Department of Environmental Health Director Roydell Carter on Tuesday, 13th January, 2015.
“What this machine does is add a redundancy factor to the operations here so we now have two compactors instead of just the one in the event one goes down we can rotate them,” said Mr. McLaughlin.
“Part of the problem we’ve had over the course of the last year, plus the fires, has been because we haven’t been able to compact the landfill properly so you wind up with oxygen, which adds more fuel to the fire, literally speaking. So compaction will reduce the potential for fires. This is one more piece of equipment in the overall effort to get the landfill resources up to capacity.”
With the addition of the new compactor, the department now has two operational waste compactors. This is good news for the landfill as in the past there were no waste compactors available for extended periods because of malfunctioning equipment, which needed repairs. When compactors are out of commission, air accumulates within uncompacted waste, which leads to a higher risk of spontaneous combustion and landfill fires.
Furthermore, as compacted waste takes up significantly less space than uncompacted waste, the addition of a new compactor has the potential to impact the landfill’s lifespan.
At present, around 250 tons of waste is deposited each day.
Landfill Foreman, Mitchell Hurlston, said the new 42-ton machine is expected to go into service this Friday, following operator training.
This training is being facilitated by Aljon’s Regional Manager, John Davis, who noted that the higher ground-elevation of the new compactor results in a higher density of compaction, which will make the process more efficient.
IMAGES:
1. Premier Alden McLaughlin and Department of Vehicle and Equipment Services Director Richard Simms hands over the keys to the new compactor to Department of Environmental Health Director, Roydell Carter. Also present were other officials from these agencies (from left) DVES Deputy Director Stephen Quinland; DEH Acting Assistant Director Solid Waste Ronald Dilbert; and DEH Fleet Foreman Colford Scott and Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn (right).
2. (Right) Landfill Foreman Mitchell Hurlston and Aljon Regional Manager John Davis.
3. (Right) Department of Vehicle and Equipment Services Director Richard Simms and Department of Environmental Health Director Roydell Carter.