The Vice Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA), Adianez Taboada Zamora, urged the implementation of the circular economy in the tourist facilities of the Jardines del Rey destination, north of the province of Ciego de Ávila, to make better use of resources and reduce aggressions to the environment.

In exchange with workers from the Meliá Cayo Coco Hotel, as part of a work visit to Ciego de Avila, she highlighted the importance of assuming production and consumption models that guarantee the sustainable development of the so-called leisure industry.

She insisted that the circular economy scheme promotes the optimization of goods, reduction of the use of raw materials and reuse of waste, so that they are recycled and can be turned into new products.

She stressed that the urgency of adopting these patterns is due to the increase in the demands and the shortage of components, proportional to the increase in the world population; in addition to reducing dependence on inputs from other countries.

The environmental consequences of the extraction of wealth are also avoided, energy consumption and polluting emissions are reduced.

She advocated reducing the use of plastics, a recommendation that corresponds to global tourism trends, after understanding the dependency relationship between this activity and the environment.

Niurka Hernández, deputy director of the Hotel Meliá Cayo Coco, explained that the progressive elimination of the use of plastic products is one of the purposes of the institution, hampered by the lack of substitute materials; however, it remains as a premise.

She reported on the actions to preserve the spa where the facility is located, including the correct location of the buildings and the care of the vegetation in the dune area.

To this is added, he added, the systematic cleaning of the beach, an action that frequently involves all the workers and clients, based on the Ecofriendly initiative, which promotes environmental culture in all the people who come together in the hotel.

The placement of informative and educational billboards confirms the will to protect the coastline in a hotel designed for adults and with an occupancy level that, during the peak tourist season, reaches 89 percent, a figure that represents more than 220 rooms, where mostly Canadian clients are established.

With a history of awards for environmental protection, Meliá Cayo Coco aspires to the National Environmental Recognition for Beaches for Tourist Use, established by CITMA, in Resolution 305 of 2020, to improve the management of these spas and guide it towards sustainability.

This stimulus aims to create the premises so that, gradually, Cuban beaches can participate in existing programs in the international arena and obtain the awards or distinctions that are granted.

The work schedule of the vice minister of CITMA in Jardines del Rey included a tour of the Center for Research on Coastal Ecosystems, during which she appreciated the conditions for providing environmental services and inquired about the professional development of workers.

Likewise, Taboada Zamora reached the wave amplifier, an engineering work that facilitates the exchange of water between the sea and Laguna Larga, in a way that benefits the physical-chemical conditions of the natural reservoir, close to the Muthu Colonial Hotel and contained in the environment of the Tryp Cayo Coco facility.

Previously, the vice minister of CITMA visited the High Density Polyethylene Pipe Company (HDPE) Ciegoplast, in Ciego de Ávila, where she recognized the implementation of the circular economy model and praised the quality of productions aimed at meeting the needs of the national hydraulic program.

She was also interested in the particularities of the production process, compliance with economic indicators, use of renewable energy sources, development of science and innovation, linkages with entities from the state and non-state sectors, and attention and improvement worker professional.

Taboada Zamora evaluated the links with the University, the rational use of natural resources, the integration of the female sex into productive work because of the implementation of the Program for the Advancement of Women; and the execution of the 43 measures approved in the country to boost the business sector.