News Projects Circular Economy Social Improvement
3 min.
In the past year, we have published articles about The Kunuku Man as we aimed to help raise awareness about his ongoing battle against waste in the streets of Curaçao. In his, currently, 92 Sundays of cleaning all sorts of areas and terrains on the island, he has gotten rid of thousands of kilos of glass, plastics and general waste. But he, together with his team, doesn’t stop there.
The Kunuku Man continuously puts in a lot of energy to create awareness amongst the residents of Curaçao, because instead of just fighting symptoms, he wants to take on the obvious problem at its roots. But to make even more of a difference, this year he decided to actively involve the government of Curaçao.
Putting a ban on plastic bags and foam food containers
In the past, The Kunuku Man has often invited members of the parliament to help during one of the cleaning activities, or at least to pass by to see the actual situation. But in June, together with two of his most loyal team members, he arranged a conversation with Giselle Mc William, Member of the Parliament of Curaçao.
During the conversation, it became apparent that she is very invested in the current issues that Curacao is encountering with the amount of trash that is being dumped in nature and alongside roads. She even initiated a bill that, among other goals, puts a ban on various kinds of packaging and single use materials, like plastic bags, plastic straws and foam food containers.
Giselle Mc William hopes that after going through the various set procedures, the bill can come into effect at the end of this year.
Glass recycling bins
More recently, The Kunuku Man met with Sector Director Gabriel Murray of the Ministry of Health, Environment and Nature (GMN). Only a few weeks ago, they sat down and discussed the issues of glass being dumped and the obvious need for glass recycle bins on various fixed locations on the island.
According to The Kunuku Man, one of the first steps to take, is to make the current recycle bins more visible and recognizable (bright yellow with GLASS written on them) and to fix them up with a (universal) lock, so they cannot be used for other types of waste.
They have also touched base on the possibility of obliging companies to use dedicated glass bins and enforcement of, hopefully, regulations in the nearby future.
One aspect of creating a more durable future for Curacao that is still left unsolved, but in desperate need of a solution, is the actual recycling of the collected glass. This remains an open item for now, but will remain on everybody’s agenda.
To conclude the meeting, the GMN has agreed to immediately place a glass recycling bin in Barber.
Would you like to know more about The Kunuku Man and his cleaning activities, or maybe help? Visit https://kunukuman.com/ for more information.
For more information and references, you are also always welcome to get in touch with Future Islands here!
To get in touch with our reporter for this original article, Thyrza Piëst, and shoot her a message on LinkedIn!
