Waste As A Resource For The Future
In Jamaica today, with buzz words like “globalization” being given as the reason why so much foreign produce is coming to our shores, our farmers need to find ways of becoming competitive. We cannot keep complaining that the government should place high import duties on foreign goods to hike the prices to match those of local produce. If this is done, we run the risk of having foreign countries put up similar blockades on our exports. These are the side effects of globalization; as was the case in the recent impasse between USA and Europe over banana. Our farmers may say they cannot produce at any cheaper rate but there are many ways to ìskin a catî. We have too much waste going down the drain as just waste. We need to see this waste as a resource and utilize science and technology to maximize the returns on the efforts.
Jamaica produces some of the best yams in the world yet our farmers are having problems exporting yams. This is because other countries also produce yams, and theirs’ may look better. To compete, the farmers could sell peeled and preserved yam, parboiled yam, sliced yam, yam chips, yam flour. The list could go on and on. This is a resource that could be put to good use. Jamaica has potatoes, yet a lot of the fast food chains import their potatoes. This is because the potatoes from the United States have a different moisture and starch content from the ones here, also the shape is more regular hence it can be peeled mechanically and sliced. Jamaica could utilize science to genetically engineer potatoes that could compete. In fact a competitive potato was identified.
Yam and potato peelings would produce a lot of waste. But is it waste really? The peelings can be coupled with other organic matter for composting. Combining the right mix of waste materials would give the compost soil a high nutrient content so that there would be no need for the farmer to buy NPK fertilizer. A large part of the costs to farmers come by way of fertilizer and disease and pest control mechanisms used on crops. Tissue culture could be used to develop crops that are resistant to certain diseases and compost used to replace fertilizer (organic farming). Compost can be engineered to be high in specific kinds of nutrients.
Other produce could go the same route. Why worry about the market for raw bananas when we can sell value added banana products and use banana peel to extract a high iron tropical tonic. We could probably earn more from the banana waste than from the banana itself. In this case though one would stop calling it banana waste. Let’s have a look at sugar. It is one of the few industries in Jamaica that uses up most of its waste as a resource. After extracting the cane juice the trash is dried and used as fuel for the boilers. After the sugar processing is finished, the by-product, molasses, is used in many other areas. Molasses is one of the main ingredients for rum making. It is also mixed with grass to fatten cows. It is mixed with many other crops to feed animals.
Value added products are the way forward and the waste can be put to good use. Science and technology are very important in making this step from basic crops to “value added plus more”. Research is needed to develop other products. The “plus more” here refers to the other products that can be obtained from the waste generated in producing value added goods. Some countries are extracting the sweet juice from coffee pulp to make confectioneries, or using it for animal feed. Dried coffee pulp is also one of the substrates used to grow mushrooms.
Sewage is one type of waste that many Jamaicans would think has no value, and only consumes energy (money) to treat it. This is not so in other places where fish farming is done in sewage ponds. More than 70% of the fish consumed world-wide is grown on farms. The two most commonly used fattening agents are fertilizer and sewage. We consume a lot of these fish products daily yet we would be squeamish to eat fish grown with our own sewage. If it is the case that Jamaicans would never feel comfortable eating sewage grown fish, then there are other ways to earn from this waste.
Most of the sewage treatment plants in Jamaica are of the aerobic type (they consume energy to pump air into the wastewater). None of them have a process to degrade or digest the sludge. This final step is important to render the sludge harmless but could also be a means of gaining energy. A large aerobic treatment plant in Germany which has anaerobic sludge digestion (without air), produces enough biogas to run the air blowing pumps and the extra energy is supplied to the public electricity grid. Jamaica’s temperature is more suitable for the anaerobic technology but we do not capitalize on it.
One of the latest developments in using waste as a resource is refeeding. Research is now well advanced in turning animal waste into feed material. In the past, composting of the waste was done to make fertilizer. However feed has three to ten times more value than fertilizer. What this means in dollars is that a farmer can now sell his beef cheaper than the competition if he is getting more from the waste by selling it as feed. Many of our farmers in Jamaica are not even turning the waste into fertilizer.
The journey for Jamaica in terms of utilizing science and technology is a long one. We need to move at a faster pace if we are to survive in this global economy. Jamaicans have always been ingenious and full of ideas but the financial backing is missing. More emphasis is needed to be put on research and development for the country to move with the times.
Science Profile
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEW MILLENIUM:
Waste As A Resource For The Future
In Jamaica today, with buzz words like “globalization” being given as the reason why so much foreign produce is coming to our shores, our farmers need to find ways of becoming competitive. We cannot keep complaining that the government should place high import duties on foreign goods to hike the prices to match those of local produce. If this is done, we run the risk of having foreign countries put up similar blockades on our exports. These are the side effects of globalization; as was the case in the recent impasse between USA and Europe over banana. Our farmers may say they cannot produce at any cheaper rate but there are many ways to ìskin a catî. We have too much waste going down the drain as just waste. We need to see this waste as a resource and utilize science and technology to maximize the returns on the efforts.
Jamaica produces some of the best yams in the world yet our farmers are having problems exporting yams. This is because other countries also produce yams, and theirs’ may look better. To compete, the farmers could sell peeled and preserved yam, parboiled yam, sliced yam, yam chips, yam flour. The list could go on and on. This is a resource that could be put to good use. Jamaica has potatoes, yet a lot of the fast food chains import their potatoes. This is because the potatoes from the United States have a different moisture and starch content from the ones here, also the shape is more regular hence it can be peeled mechanically and sliced. Jamaica could utilize science to genetically engineer potatoes that could compete. In fact a competitive potato was identified.
Yam and potato peelings would produce a lot of waste. But is it waste really? The peelings can be coupled with other organic matter for composting. Combining the right mix of waste materials would give the compost soil a high nutrient content so that there would be no need for the farmer to buy NPK fertilizer. A large part of the costs to farmers come by way of fertilizer and disease and pest control mechanisms used on crops. Tissue culture could be used to develop crops that are resistant to certain diseases and compost used to replace fertilizer (organic farming). Compost can be engineered to be high in specific kinds of nutrients.
Other produce could go the same route. Why worry about the market for raw bananas when we can sell value added banana products and use banana peel to extract a high iron tropical tonic. We could probably earn more from the banana waste than from the banana itself. In this case though one would stop calling it banana waste. Let’s have a look at sugar. It is one of the few industries in Jamaica that uses up most of its waste as a resource. After extracting the cane juice the trash is dried and used as fuel for the boilers. After the sugar processing is finished, the by-product, molasses, is used in many other areas. Molasses is one of the main ingredients for rum making. It is also mixed with grass to fatten cows. It is mixed with many other crops to feed animals.
Value added products are the way forward and the waste can be put to good use. Science and technology are very important in making this step from basic crops to “value added plus more”. Research is needed to develop other products. The “plus more” here refers to the other products that can be obtained from the waste generated in producing value added goods. Some countries are extracting the sweet juice from coffee pulp to make confectioneries, or using it for animal feed. Dried coffee pulp is also one of the substrates used to grow mushrooms.
Sewage is one type of waste that many Jamaicans would think has no value, and only consumes energy (money) to treat it. This is not so in other places where fish farming is done in sewage ponds. More than 70% of the fish consumed world-wide is grown on farms. The two most commonly used fattening agents are fertilizer and sewage. We consume a lot of these fish products daily yet we would be squeamish to eat fish grown with our own sewage. If it is the case that Jamaicans would never feel comfortable eating sewage grown fish, then there are other ways to earn from this waste.
Most of the sewage treatment plants in Jamaica are of the aerobic type (they consume energy to pump air into the wastewater). None of them have a process to degrade or digest the sludge. This final step is important to render the sludge harmless but could also be a means of gaining energy. A large aerobic treatment plant in Germany which has anaerobic sludge digestion (without air), produces enough biogas to run the air blowing pumps and the extra energy is supplied to the public electricity grid. Jamaica’s temperature is more suitable for the anaerobic technology but we do not capitalize on it.
One of the latest developments in using waste as a resource is refeeding. Research is now well advanced in turning animal waste into feed material. In the past, composting of the waste was done to make fertilizer. However feed has three to ten times more value than fertilizer. What this means in dollars is that a farmer can now sell his beef cheaper than the competition if he is getting more from the waste by selling it as feed. Many of our farmers in Jamaica are not even turning the waste into fertilizer.
The journey for Jamaica in terms of utilizing science and technology is a long one. We need to move at a faster pace if we are to survive in this global economy. Jamaicans have always been ingenious and full of ideas but the financial backing is missing. More emphasis is needed to be put on research and development for the country to move with the times.