Environment report | More pollution in 2015, and rising awareness

The amount of waste produced continues to increase

Last year we saw an increase on the amount of waste produced in the region as well as further decrease in the quality of the costal waters, the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) said in their annual environment report.
The report which was released this week, shows that the total amount of waste transported to the Solid Waste Incineration Plant in 2015 surged to 11.3 percent when compared with 2014.
The deterioration of the quality of coastal waters is another of the topics addressed, due to the current environment threats that the region is facing. In general terms, it was considered that the quality of the coastal waters has decreased about 7.8 percent, despite the fact that there was a lower concentration of heavy metals compared to previous years. This increase is because the non-metallic materials in the waters increased exponentially, reaching about 20 percent higher than the higher ceiling.
Places such as Areia Preta, Airport, Cheoc Van and Hac Sa beaches, the sanitary landfill and Praia Grande were the areas that registered the biggest surges in this sort of pollutants, with an increment between 13.1 and 33.3 percent.
It is also worth noting that there has been a reduction in number of green spaces year-on-year, registering a decrease of 3.6 percent. The Taipa island area was accountable for the largest share (-1.4 percent).
The DSPA report also remarked on energy efficiency, noting a surge on the general electricity consumption of seven percent.
Although the report conclusions highlight an estimated reduction on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GEE) of 0.4 percent, a careful analysis of the report clearly shows that the majority of the air pollutants registered an increase with highest being Pb (Lead) with 8.2 percent, as well as increases of over 5 percent on TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 (the three components that together create “smog”).
According to the report, the most accountable activities for the production of this “smog” are the pollution emissions by the transportation and the construction industry.
If the environmental indicators do not seem to be improving, the same seems to be happening with the Bureau’s investment on activities to promote environmental protection. This figure registered a reduction of 37 percent on the number of activities when compared with 2014 as well as a 1.2 percent reduction on the number of cooperating entities.
Growing slightly was the financial support that surged by 2.1 percent to almost MOP12.4 Billion.
As for the population indicators, there has been a higher participation from society that has made the figures of environment-related complaints to DSPA increase by about 65 percent. Topping the list of concerns were complaints about noise (+103.4 percent).
In its conclusions, the report gives some recommendations especially in regard to the quality of the coastal waters, suggesting the adoption of measures such as “the reinforcement of treatment of the waste waters as well as the improvement on the drainage network in order to reduce the pollution emissions.”
Remarks were also made regarding the search for lands to develop, calling for the need of a “balance between ecological preservation and development.” RM