DISUR Works for Ecofriendly South Puerto Rico

 

(Ponce, Puerto Rico –April 19, 2012) – Plans for a new recycling and economic development initiative in Puerto Rico are now underway thanks to a new partnership between socioeconomic development agency Desarrollo Integral del Sur, Inc. (DISUR) and two North American institutions, the Massachusetts-based Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the New York-based Environmental Finance Center at Syracuse University (EFC).

 

On May, 2012, DISUR and WPI will issue a report Electronic Waste Recycling Center in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico: Its Viability, Sustainability and Best Practices in Solid Materials Management. DISUR is funding the study with a Mini-Grant for Solid Waste Management from the EFC. The study will inform DISUR’s EPA-funded area-wide planning project, PR#127-Guayanilla-Peñuelas – “From Scrap the Future is Born”, a Brownfields reuse project targeting more than 1,300 acres of Brownfields in Guayanilla and Peñuelas.

 

The most recently available data of the Puerto Rico Solid Waste Authority indicates that 946.44 tons of electronic waste was generated in Puerto Rico in 2007, waste that ends up in the Island’s landfills. “The communities of Peñuelas and Guayanilla have rightly identified Puerto Rico’s need for more alternatives for solid-waste management,” said PR#127 project manager David Southgate. “The report will bridge a significant gap in data on the topic of Solid Materials Management, as no study on E-waste management has been conducted in Puerto Rico in recent years.” 

 

The Worcester Polytechnic Institute report will highlight the opportunities and pathway to success for developing an electronic waste recycling center in one of the brownfields of the former petrochemical complex. The facility will provide for better solid waste management in Puerto Rico, and will promote economic development with the creation of new jobs for the southern region,” said María E. Meléndez Altieri, President of DISUR.

 

“WPI’s study for DISUR builds on a 20-year tradition of working with Puerto Rico governmental and non-governmental agencies on research initiatives that can improve the lives of Puerto Ricans,” said WPI Puerto Rico Project Center director, Susan Vernon-Gertensfeld. “Our students and faculty are proud to be able to make a contribution in the area of Solid Waste Management for the island.”

 

 

WPI has sent more engineering and science students abroad than any other US university.  At more than 25 Project Centers located around the globe, WPI students address local issues, develop an understanding of other cultures, and see – firsthand – how their lives and work will play out on a global stage. The Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division combines these unique educational programs with a research emphasis on local and regional sustainable development.  Typically, the research centers on the strategies and needs of state and local governmental and non-governmental agencies engaged in the challenge of creating healthy, prosperous and environmentally responsible localities and regions around the world. For more information visit: www.wpi.edu