Since yesterday, Tuesday September 29The Grandes Cayes eco-site no longer receives Green waste, recyclable household packaging – cardboard, plastics, glass – and sludge from wastewater treatment plants. In a message sent on Friday, September 25 Verde SXM explains to professionals that “the current market is coming to an end and has not been renewed”, the company will no longer be able to process them.
For Maxime Arnal, director of Verde SXMThis situation is all the more regrettable given that: “the end of the contract has been known since the moment it was awarded by the local authority.” The company says it alerted the local authority and the prefecture by several letters in January and then in May, the date of the end of the contractA legal solution had made it possible to extend waste collection until the end of September.
For recyclable household packaging (EMR), the Collectivity published a new market about a month and a half agoVerde SXM, however, indicates not wanting to take a position, evoking payment delays by the local authority, but also conditions that would prevent the necessary investments for processing this waste over the next four years. Regarding Green waste and sludge, “the markets are still not open,” says Maxime Arnal.
The carriers, “the last to be informed”
Among transport companies, the announcement is causing concern. Gerald Gumbs, member of the group of waste transport and construction companies, deplores a lack of communication. Some businesses reportedly did not receive the message, and those that received it on Friday had very little time to notify their customers and empty the skips.We're always the last to know., he regrets.
The risk is also to see appear more illegal dumping“Starting today, illegal dumping will begin,” Some people cannot refuse to take a job.“,” warns Gérald Gumbs, who asks a quick solution for the community "We're not going to wait two weeks like last time.he warns, making reference to the “snail operation” launched last July after more than 15 days without access to theNon-Hazardous Waste Storage Facility (ISDND).
Verde SXM believes that legal and administrative mechanisms could ensure continuity of the activity. “It's up to the clients, therefore to the local authority to put these systems in place”"In the meantime, the waste in question cannot be treated elsewhere and is accumulating," says Maxime Arnal.
For its part, the COM (Collectivité d'Outre-Mer) maintains that it has taken the necessary steps to ensure the continued processing of the waste in question. In a press release issued yesterday afternoon, the Collectivité indicated that it had offered Verde SXM a temporary extension of its contract, while the contract renewal process was finalized. However, the company has reportedly decided to cease operations, citing in particular the "partial non-compliance" of its facilities. Faced with the risk of a disruption to the treatment process and the health and environmental challenges, the Collectivity has announced its decision to requisition the operator. As the Collectivity does not have environmental jurisdiction, a prefectoral decree will be required to lift the suspension. The Collectivity also specifies that it is continuing to prepare a new tender for the treatment of green waste, sanitation products, and recyclable waste. Future service providers will notably have to propose a composting facility that complies with regulatory requirements, with commissioning planned for the second half of 2027. To be continued… _DR
