GENERAL:

• BASIC DEMOGRAPHICS

3.8 MILLION POPULATION
1.2 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS
$8,000 AVERAGE PER PERSON INCOME
$24,000 PER HOUSEHOLD INCOME
14% UNEMPLOYMENT (Ranges as high as 45% in some towns)
78 MUNICIPALITIES
ISLAND IS 100 MILES LONG AND 30 MILES WIDE
LOCATED 1,000 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MIAMI, FLORIDA

• 11,100 TONS OF SOLID WASTE GENERATED PER DAY

• 5.4 POUNDS OF SOLID WASTE GENERATED PER PERSON PER DAY

• RESIDENTIAL WASTE COMPOSITION (35% MOISTURE)

12% GLASS
2 % NON-Fe METALS
10% Fe METALS
9% PLASTICS
3% GRIT
15% PUTRESCIBLES
10% YARD WASTE
5% CARDBOARD
21% PAPER
13% OTHER WASTE

• MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE DISTRIBUTION (WET SEASON)

53% BIOMASS
28% RECYCLABLE
19% LANDFILLED

• PLASTIC WASTE:

9% OF SOLID WASTE BY WEIGHT
43% OF SOLID WASTE BY VOLUME
$7 MILLION LANDFILLING COST ANNUALLY
60% HDPE
5% PETE
15% PP
10% PS
10% OTHER

• LANDFILL FEES RANGE FROM $5.25 PER YARD TO $90 PER TON WITH AN AVERAGE OF $37 PER TON

• 3/4 ACRE LOST TO LANDFILLING DAILY

• 18+ MILLION CUBIC YARDS LANDFILLED ANNUALLY

• 68 LANDFILLS OPERATIONAL AS OF 1/1/95

• 32 LANDFILLS OPERATIONAL AS OF 1/1/96

• 23 LANDFILLS TO CLOSE BY 2005 WHILE 9 TO BECOME REGIONAL LANDFILLS

• 81% REDUCTION IN LANDFILLING POSSIBLE BY RECLAIMING, RECYCLING & REUSING

• 35% RECYCLING TARGET BY YEAR 2005. (Originally the Law set 1996 as the deadline and when there was no compliance, the Government simply extended the Law, first to 2000 and then again to 2004)

• .05% ACTUAL CURRENT RECYCLING RATE. (Equivalent to taking 365 days to recycle the solid waste produced in 4 1/2 hours)

• 5 EXISTING MRFs, 5 MORE PLANNED; 3 WASTE TRANSFER STATIONS, 5 MORE PLANNED; 2 WTE PLANTS IN PROCESS, 5 PLANNED.

• $620 MILLION 10 YEAR PLAN FOR SOLID WASTE INCLUDES INCINERATORS, COMPOSTING, RECYCLING, LANDFILLS. To date only $55 million has been disbursed.

• 10% of the EASTERN CARIBBEAN daily garbage is generated by tourism activities, including cruise ships and yacht traffic

• Tourism is blamed for the dramatic decline of the lobster and conch populations.

• There are 32 island countries and entities in the CARIBBEAN region

• Only 10% of the sewage generated by the 170 million annual visitors to the Caribbean and the area's 100 million inhabitants is treated before being dumped into the sea.

• There are 135 legally established marine and coastal protected areas comprising approximately 4,000 acres.

• A 1990 study showed that 176 million tons of aviation jet fuel were burned by jetliners in the area. 60% of these flights were tourism related. This generated 550 million tons of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, 220 million tons of water and 3.5 million tons of nitrogen oxides which caused acid rain and photochemical pollution.

• For more information on PUERTO RICO and the CARIBBEAN