Statia removes 400 car wrecks

Source: Statia Government

Over 400 car wrecks and 35 tons of waste zinc were loaded on a vessel early this week and shipped to St. Maarten where they will be exported to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands the car wrecks and components will be processed and re-used. The process has been done in accordance with international environmental standards. 

In 2018, the Directorate Economy, Nature and Infrastructure (ENI) of the Public Entity St. Eustatius and the Waste Management Facility started with the project to collect and remove car wrecks. At that time, Statia had over 900 abandoned car wrecks spread over the island. The wrecks pose a serious threat to the environment and also to the public health as they attract rodents and other insects. 

First phase

During the first phase in 2018,  a total of 300 car wrecks were removed and exported, mainly from the Man-O-War industrial zone. The second phase started earlier this month by collecting and stripping over 400 car wrecks and other metal waste. Early this week, on December 12th and 13th 2021, half of these wrecks (200) were removed, loaded on a vessel and shipped to St. Maarten. The remaining 200 will be shipped at a later stage.

700 in total

This means that a total of  700 car wrecks on the island were collected and removed during phase 1 (2018) and phase 2 (2021). The remaining 200 wrecks that are still on the island will be collected later.

‘’We are very proud of this achievement and we encourage  residents to keep Statia clean,’’ says Anthony Reid, Director of ENI.” We request everyone to bring all end-of-life vehicles to the Waste Management Facility to protect  the island” 

The Waste Management Facility will continue to collect and process metal waste and scrap metal upon request. For more information, please contact the Waste Plant ( Mr. Jeffrey Lewis ), or the Directorate Economy, Nature and Infrastructure (ENI)