The recycling of plastic bottles, for reuse in the pharmaceutical industry, is a circular economy practice promoted by the Alfredo Miguel Aguayo educational institution in the municipality of Ciego de Ávila, with the aim of supporting continuity in the manufacture and sale of medicines.
Tania Delgado Pestana, head of the Department of Environmental Policy Instruments at the Territorial Delegation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (Citma), highlighted that the initiative is being developed as part of the activities for World Environment Day, to be celebrated on 5 June, with the Avilanian territory as the national venue.
She emphasised that it is an initiative that supports compliance with updated legal and technical standards in the country in recent years.
Among the regulations are Law 150/2023 on the System of Natural Resources and the Environment and Citma Resolution 96/2023, Regulations for work on sustainable consumption and production, circular economy and the gradual reduction of disposable or single-use plastics.
It also aligns with the purposes of the Integrated Alliance «Together for Less Plastic Waste», which has become a commitment by Cuba to reduce waste pollution from the aforementioned ductile material.
This latter document, approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba in November 2023, promotes the proper management of plastic waste through effective management and recycling systems, and the implementation of technical standards.
In a global context characterised by the indiscriminate use of plastic products and poor waste management that triggers excessive accumulation in the environment, the initiative of these Avilanian students and teachers, supported by families and the community, is commendable.
Specialists from the Citma Environment Sub-Delegation exchanged views with them to update them on plastic pollution, classified as the second most serious environmental problem in the world, second only to climate change.
Recovery extends the useful life of the bottles, thereby avoiding indiscriminate dumping and reducing the need to extract natural resources to manufacture new containers; in addition to ensuring conditions for producing and selling natural and traditional medicine drugs, obtained from various medicinal plants.
Delgado Pestana stated that this is a demonstration of good practices with economic, social and environmental impact, which other Avilanian educational institutions are also getting involved in, encouraging responsibility for caring for the environment from an early age and helping to reverse the trend of increasing plastic pollution.
Regarding the awarding of the national venue for World Environment Day, Armando Rodríguez Batista, head of Citma, recognised that compliance with Resolution 96/2023 and the Integrated Alliance is one of the areas in which the province of Ciego de Ávila is making progress.
