Christmas Trees Will Be Turned Into Compost; Campaign Launched to Prevent Them From Ending Up in the Trash

Panama City:  It was at the University of the Americas where the press conference was held for the launch of an awareness campaign, aimed at citizens who use natural Christmas trees, which are generally discarded in rivers, streams or end up accumulating in landfills after January 6.  During the meeting it was announced that, starting this year, Christmas trees will be placed in specific locations to be announced by the authorities, and then collected and transformed into compost. 

The initiative is driven by the Urban and Domestic Cleaning Authority, the Ministry of Environment, the Panamanian Chamber of Recycling and local governments of Panama, Colón, Arraiján, La Chorrera and San Miguelito.  Unlike previous years, when the trees were simply collected and sent to landfills, this time they will be given a new use, preventing them from becoming an environmental and collection problem.  “Instead of overwhelming the sanitation systems with the saplings on top of the garbage, we are going to eliminate a serious problem and turn it into compost, into new life for our plants,” declared the Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Navarro. 

The mayors Mayer Mizrachi, Irma Hernández, from San Miguelito, and Eloy Chong, from La Chorrera, attended the event.  Although neither the mayor of Colón nor the mayor of Arraiján attended, both districts were represented.  Hernández explained that the main collection center will be at the Los Andes No. 2 shopping center, although temporary points will be set up in different sectors of the district, from where the trees will be transferred to that site.  In the case of Arraiján, it was announced that the trees will be collected at Westland Mall and in the Brisas del Golf Park.  Authorities reiterated their call to citizens not to discard trees in rivers, streams or landfills, and to join this environmental initiative.