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Coconut crushing: The new normal

Coconut shells along a section of the ABC Highway. (Picture by Tamesha Doughty)
By Tamesha Doughty on Monday, 25 October, 2021 at 04:16 PM

Efforts are underway to reduce the number of coconut shells along the highways and byways of Barbados.

Acting General Manager of the National Conservation Commission (NCC), Ryan Als, said the NCC recently acquired a coconut crusher and a commercial grade woodchipper to shred coconut husks.

He added that the acquisition of the equipment has been timely since the NCC has been called numerous times to remove coconut shells that were illegally dumped at sites across Barbados.

Two coconut vendors, Als said, have been identified so far to supply the coconut shells to NCC for the crushing of the coconut husks.

He explained: “The coconut vendors are cooperative and eager to bring their shells to us. They are from the Bush Hall and Bank Hall area and it was a shorter trip to bring them to our Codrington headquarters than to drive to the landfill to dispose of them.”

The vendors’ access to a coconut crusher, Als added, will result in the use of the machine to toss the coconut husks instead of next to the roads.

He further explained that the coconut crusher, a small device about four feet tall and a foot wide, will assist the NCC with its promotion of environmental conservation.

“We utilise the coconut shell to create a product that can go back into the environment for the coconuts to grow even better – it is a complete cycle,” he added. 

Als explained that once processed in the coconut crusher, the material is converted to coconut fibre mulch for gardens, as decoration for household plants and potted plants, and in some instances, the fine fibre is mixed in soil. 

“Placing this fibre into soil reduces the erosion and helps with root penetration and improves the growth of plants that are placed in the soil,” he said.

Meanwhile, Technical Officer of the NCC, Carlos Gilkes said the commercial grade woodchipper is equipped to process higher volumes of coconut shells and even large trees.

Gilkes said he believes that the equipment has the capacity to crush the majority of coconut shells that are usually disposed at the Mangrove Pond Landfill in St. Thomas on a daily basis.

“This will have a positive domino effect because there will be less coconut shells for water to settle which means there will be less mosquito breeding sites,” he added.

In his support of Gilkes’ views, Als said that the NCC's aim is to increase its capacity by increasing the number of coconut crushers and acquiring at least one more woodchipper to their fleet to process the volume of coconut shells.

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