We’d love to hear from you! Join us on our mission to reduce the pollution of Kingston Harbour.
Whether you are an academic, private sector or community-based organization, local or international, there are several ways to get involved with the project. Click on the Contact Us section of our website and reach out for more information on how to participate.
In 2014 and 2015, The Ocean Cleanup conducted research that was published in Biogeosciences and Nature Scientific Reports.
The results showed that the highest concentrations of microplastics were found directly on the surface. Part of the plastic that enters the ocean is of a plastic type that is heavier than water. However, most packaging and fishing gear (the two primary sources of ocean plastic globally) is made of buoyant types of plastic found almost directly at the ocean surface2.
According to 2019 data, 80 percent of the solid waste emitted from gullies is plastic.
At water’s edge and inland, The GraceKennedy Foundation facilitates outreach activities with a mission to educate the public on how to dispose of waste properly and eliminate the practice of using gullies as dumpsites. Clearing and maintaining gullies is under the jurisdiction of local municipalities, so the Foundation focuses on manual cleanups at beaches near the gullies. In 2022, eight manual clean-ups were held at various locations, in which over 1,000 participants removed more than 21,000 kg of waste from the coastline.
The project partners are in the process of developing an interactive visitor’s centre at the project’s offloading site, where organizations can visit to learn about the importance of proper waste disposal practices. Presentations are also being made at local schools upstream and downstream, to inform students about the project and the role they can play in preventing pollution. In addition, an environmental wardens programme will be implemented in communities surrounding the gullies, to promote environmental awareness in an effort to change the behaviour of the community regarding waste management and environmental consciousness.
No, this technology is not a substitute for waste management and infrastructure. Neither is it intended to diminish the need for environmentally conscious behaviour as it relates to plastic consumption and disposal. The Government of Jamaica and many organizations are focused on improving the country’s solid waste management systems. The aim of the project is to work together with these entities to provide a solution that is complementary to existing and future actions, to reduce the pollution of Kingston Harbour.
Efforts of The Kingston Harbour Cleanup Project add value to one aspect of an overall strategic plan to restore the historic Kingston Harbour. Thus far, the work is continuing to generate local interest and excitement from communities as well as public and private sector entities. With continued local and international support, it is the hope of the local partners that the project can be replicated in other parts of the island, and even the Caribbean.
As with every pilot project, this is a learning process: we watch, measure, assess data, adjust and refine technology and operations as needed. We scrutinize each barrier’s ability to halt and contain flows of trash after major rainfall events—monitoring how up-river debris affects down-river intervention. The goal of the project is to install solutions at 11 gullies that feed into Kingston Harbour. However, no two gullies are alike – each possesses very different characteristics that make it unique. What we learn each day helps us to cultivate best practices that will allow us to make faster and smoother deployments in the future.
We are grateful for the overwhelming support the project has received from several government agencies. We are especially appreciative of the support from: The Port Authority of Jamaica, The National Environment and Planning Agency, The Urban Development Corporation, The National Land Agency, The Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation, The Office of The Prime Minister, The former Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment, and Climate Change, The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, The Jamaica Customs Agency, and The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The project has also received significant support from private sector, academic and community-based organizations such as: The Recycling Partners of Jamaica, Spectrum Systems Limited, The JPS Foundation, Newport Fersan Jamaica and The Centre for Marine Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona.
The Kingston Harbour Cleanup Project partners are The Ocean Cleanup in collaboration with The GraceKennedy Foundation and Clean Harbours Jamaica Limited. The Ocean Cleanup is providing the funding, expertise and technology for the project. Clean Harbours Jamaica Limited are the local operators of the technology, and are responsible for its maintenance as well as management of the project’s offloading site. The GraceKennedy Foundation provides administrative and project management support as well as coordination of stakeholder outreach.
Mona GeoInformatics Institute provides Geographic Information Systems services and technical skills critical to ongoing project research.
Read more about our Partners here.
Regrettably, because many gullies have become dumping grounds, this can lead to blockage that in turn, causes localized flooding when debris and sediment in the gullies inhibit the flow of water. The barrier technology, however, cannot cause flooding as the barrier arm allows water to easily flow through. Although the Interceptor™ barriers have been designed to withstand high flow velocities, the safety of our teams and all surrounding communities is our first priority. As such, in the abundance of caution, the barriers are removed whenever there is threat of a hurricane or tropical storm.
Once the waste has been collected from the barriers, it is transported to the project’s offloading site, where it is sorted into various categories. The project partners make every effort to reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill. As such, Recycling Partners of Jamaica collect recyclable plastics and other materials are either stored for a later purpose or sent for disposal.
The Interceptor™ Barrier consists of a rubber screen that hangs vertically, both above and below the water surface, and is connected to a series of floats; each float is made of recycled plastic and has ballast weight to keep it upright. Ends of the barrier arm are secured to land, with various points along the arm connected to the seabed via anchors. Once in place, it forms a U-shape with flex to permit motion from tidal and weather influences.1 Debris floats down the waterway until it reaches the barrier, which holds it in place until operators can remove it.
The gullies that empty into Kingston Harbour traverse both residential and industrial areas of the city. Among other reasons, inadequate waste collection services lead to frequent dumping at several points along the gullies. Both communities at the mouths of the gullies and communities located upstream contribute to this waste accumulation.
However, illegal dumping is not the only way that waste gets into the gullies; Pollutants travel from far and wide to enter the gully network. When rain falls in any area across the city, it can flow into the ground and become groundwater, or flow on top of the ground and become runoff. This runoff is incredibly good at picking up whatever it meets, as it travels downward into the gullies. Therefore, anything on the ground can end up in the gullies – dirt, solid waste and chemicals from streets, gutters, neighbourhoods, industrial sites, agricultural land, parking lots, construction sites etc. Gullies act as a catchment site for both point (material coming from a single identifiable point) and non-point source (pollution from many diffuse sources) pollution.
Join us on our mission to reduce the pollution of Kingston Harbour.
Contact us for more information on how to participate.
