AE Recycling Query – July 2011
Our Environmental Committee would like to know how many other Caribbean Islands are actively
involved in recycling initiatives such as cans, glass and cardboard and if so to what percentage level.
Here in the USVI we only recycle aluminum cans and it’s only a small percentage of businesses that are
doing it. There are some Government programs offering receptacles however we still have to transport
the cans to the recycling plant and the return barely covers the cost of labor and transportation so
businesses don’t feel incented to “do the right thing”.
Thank you for your feedback and any best practices you can share.
Lisa Hamilton
President
USVI Hotel & Tourism Association
ANTIGUA
In Antigua the Rotary Club of Antigua Sundown of which I am a member with funding from the UN and
British High Commission established a recycling plant in 2005. We currently process all plastic bottles,
aluminum cans and scrap metals. Just last month the facility received a baler to process cardboard. We
have
also
tried
car
batteries,
printer
cartridges.
Support from Government has been erratic to little to non existent and as you say there is little money
in recycling. The plant can only really survive on revenues from scrap metal with the bottles and cans
being more of a service to the environment. Every other week I coordinate a volunteers Saturday
morning to encourage different groups to come and help us sort bottles for a couple of hours. This
allows the staff to concentrate on the revenue generating side.
Most of the larger hotels support the initiative but getting 100% support is difficult. The local support is
mixed, nearly every school on the island must have at some stage done a field trip to the plant but
getting the population to think recycling is hard. I have tried via a Facebook page “ABWREC” but
amazing how little interest there is.
The plant has a website that you can look at, it is www.abwrec.com
GRENADA
Very touchy subject – I have been advocating and lobbying for recycling to no avail so far.
Grenada has no programmes for recycling apart from the Carib Beer company which reuses its bottles,
the same applies to a lesser degree to the rum factories and a one man band collecting scrap metal
which he ships to Trinidad.
BAHAMAS
NO LEGISLATED RECYCLING PROGRAM
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM FOR ALUMINUM AND CARDBOARD HAS SUPPORT OF SEVERAL MAJOR HOTELS
BUT NOT MAJORITY
ST. LUCIA
St.Lucia does not now have any official recycling centres or recycling activities albeit the issue is under
“active consideration” by the current Government… There are also a number of private businesses
(both local and foreign) that have indicated interest in initiating such a venture but none have actually
started.
There is nevertheless a private individual who unofficially operates a “recycling” business wherein he
collects and separates waste material and ships the applicable detritus to Trinidad.
There are a number of existing and some developing re-cycling initiatives in Saint Lucia:
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Beer Bottles are re-cycled by the Windward & Leeward Islands Brewery
Non-ferrous metals are collected and shipped out, I believe to Trinidad
Waste Oil is collected and used to power furnaces at the Distillery and the Clay Tiles factory.
Waste cooking oil is being collected for conversion to bio-Diesel
Waste bananas are being collected for conversion to bio-Ethanol.
A draft bill to enforce a refundable deposit system on all plastic bottles has been circulated for
comments. The SLHTA, through its Environmental Committee is active in seeking to ensure that the bill
is amended and enacted. We are organizing a consultation on this issue in August with a view to
establishing the feasibility of some re-cycling on a local scale to avoid the inefficiency of transporting the
bottles around the island.
St. Maarten
St. Maarten (well the Dutch side) has not embarked on any recycling initiatives. Anyone who wants to
recycle must take their recycled items to the plant on the French side of the island.
ANGUILLA
Anguilla, has only now started talking about recycling, but not in any great detail. Three years ago, the
AHTA, implemented a major annual island clean up, but we do not have any option of recycling. Sorry to
say. We continue to plug for this.
BARBADOS
We do have a few waste brokers on island. One main and well known one who accepts almost
everything for recycling/reuse – ALL bottles (plastic and glass including shampoo, dishwashing liquid and
laundry detergent, ketchup, rum etc.), cans, plastic bags, cardboard, car batteries and more, one who
focuses mostly on scrap metal and another who does magazines and other paper. We also have another
who accepts electronic waste (e-waste). Many of the hotels especially ones that are green certified and
some other member companies do utilise the services of these brokers especially the first one as he is
more widely known and offers a collection service.
The green certified hotels will do it as part of their certification process and in order to maintain their
certification. The money they get from it is used to fund the hotel’s/company’s green team and its
activities. Otherwise it is done on a voluntary basis.
As part of the green economy thrust the Government is now seeking to pilot various programmes to
introduce large scale recycling in neighbourhoods. Some homes, school and communities however
already do a bit of recycling on their own.
CURACAO
SELIKOR ( Curacao Waste Company) has a new waste drop off center
In order to increase the separation of waste type and to stimulate recycling, a waste drop-off center was
constructed at the Malpais Landfill.
All personal vehicles, pick-up trucks, and small dump trucks no longer deposit their waste on the active
portion of the landfill, but are now directed to drive through the drop-off center. In the center, the
transported waste are separated by type (e.g. yard waste, glass, metals, cardboard, etc.) and placed in
the designated container. Once the containers are full they will be removed and replaced with an empty
one. Each type of waste will then be transported to the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be recycled
and what cannot be recycled will be transported to the landfill for disposal. Very large trucks and Selikor
garbage trucks will continue to deposit their waste directly on the active portion of the landfill.
Waste Drop-Off Center
The center is designed with a “driving-through” concept, where a vehicle with waste will drive through
and stop at different containers to deposit the different types of waste. There is a separate containers
for yard waste, for metals, for construction and demolition waste, for tires, for plastics, for glass, and for
non-recyclable garbage.
The center has other drop-off areas for such wastes as asbestos, hazardous wastes, batteries, white
goods (e.g. stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) and brown goods (e.g. televisions, computers,
electronics, etc). So once a vehicle has finished “driving through” the platform, it will drive along these
other areas to drop off these other types of waste, if necessary. Click here too see layout.
The recyclable waste materials are transporting by truck, container, or ship to a local or foreign end user
or to a broker. Brokers are involved in the marketing of processed materials to end users. Brokers play
an important role in the recycling loop as they assure the availability of needed quality and quantity of
materials to end users. They pool the outputs of several processors and arrange for shipment of the
materials to the end users. Glass, metal, paper, cardboard, and batteries are some of the waste
materials that are collected on Curaçao and shipped by Selikor to foreign end users.
Aluminum Recycling
Green Force Curacao offers Aluminum Recycling bins for rent. The rent is used to cover the costs of the
bin, finance their activities and it includes a pickup of the goods twice a month. Green Force will make
sure the collected materials end up in the recycling stream, this way they will be reused instead of
dumped at the landfill.
The funds coming from the activities of Green Force are used to sustain the operations of the company,
improve the quantity of materials being collected, collaborate with environmental programs and
activities, such as clean up actions, help in the protection of wildlife, contribute to the education of the
youth and in the near future, to buy equipment and technology necessary to process the aluminum
ourselves and expand to other recyclable materials.
We have no exact info in percentages to share yet.
BONAIRE
Bonaire is in the midst of having recycling of:
- glass
- construction waste
- aluminum cans
- paper
Separate collection of materials, most will be shipped to Holland for either recycling or proper disposal:
- plastic bottles
- batteries
- oil and fat
- metal (incl car wrecks etc)
- clothes
I am sure more will be added down the line.
I cannot give you percentages yet, the start of implementation (and raising more awareness) is end of
this summer, legislation is not coming before January 2012.
BERMUDA
In Bermuda for both residents and business the recycling of aluminum and glass is encouraged and has
some success with residential homes as the Government collects. Our hotels are very conscious about
green initiatives and arrange for the collection of their recyclables by private contract. This continues to
be a work in progress.
Cozumel Island
The local government has a contract with two companies, one who collects the trash and other the
recyclables.
10 Cozumel hotels are in the MARTI program (Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative) but Riviera Maya
has 120 in the program. http://www.rivieramaya.org.mx/marti.html
ARUBA
Ecotech
With some hotels, supermarkets, schools and government offices Ecotech already started with the
implementation of a source separation system for carton, paper, newspaper and aluminum. Ecotech
collects these materials and offers the service of placing dedicated containers at major supermarkets,
companies, schools and almost all hotels on the island.
In addition to collection, Ecotech allows “drop off” of carton, paper and aluminum beverage cans of
individuals and its businesses at its Barricade based “Waste Separation Plant” (WSP). At this WSP the
latest equipment and technology available is being utilized to process these recyclables and prepare
them for shipment to secondary material markets worldwide. (Ecotech Website)
Aruba Biodiesel Company
Aruba Biodiesel Company will recycle used cooking oil, engine oil, into biodiesel which is an
environmentally friendly alternative fuel. They also will recycle filters & tires.
Ecotech
With some hotels, supermarkets, schools and government offices Ecotech already started with the
implementation of a source separation system for carton, paper, newspaper and aluminum. Ecotech
collects these materials and offers the service of placing dedicated containers at major supermarkets,
companies, schools and almost all hotels on the island.
In addition to collection, Ecotech allows “drop off” of carton, paper and aluminum beverage cans of
individuals and its businesses at its Barricade based “Waste Separation Plant” (WSP). At this WSP the
latest equipment and technology available is being utilized to process these recyclables and prepare
them for shipment to secondary material markets worldwide. (Ecotech Website)
Aruba Biodiesel Company
Aruba Biodiesel Company will recycle used cooking oil, engine oil, into biodiesel which is an
environmentally friendly alternative fuel. They also will recycle filters & tires.