Greener Emperor Valley

It’s the handiwork of the zoo’s Recycling Project which has been in operation for the past few months. The project is a collaboration with the Flying Tree Environmental Management group and the Manatee Conservation Trust.

Sharleen Khan, the zoo’s Zoological Officer, told Newsday that $80,000 was spent on recycling machinery to get the project going.

“Right now, we’re just recycling all the plastic, aluminium and styrofoam from the zoo’s waste. In future, we plan on expanding. We’re trying to make the zoo greener.” Khan also said that the items are used to make tiles, bowls and pots. “We have a floor as well that is made from 200,000 plastic bottles,” said Khan, “We don’t just want to recycle plastic into another bottle to be thrown away, but we use these recycled materials to make something useful.” The zoo also uses animal waste and turns it into manure, recycles water as well as using solar panels to light the zoo’s pathways and car park.

Khan credits the director of the Flying Tree Environmental Management, Juan Andrade, with aiding the zoo in the project, with which patrons are “impressed” and “fascinated” by. The project also comes with an educational aspect, as an information board is established next to the recycling machinery.

The project is aimed at waste reduction and environmental protection, which subsequently protects the animals as less waste is filtered into animal territory.