JAMAICA, St Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda are among Caricom countries that have already instituted or announced plans to ban the use of single-use plastic products.

Joining the movement for an “environmentally friendly country and destination” is Barbados which will, on January 1, 2020, ban the importation, retail, sale, and use of petro-based single-use plastic products.

Locally, the ban which took effect on January 1 has been described by some business operators and consumers as “disruptive” to business. But for others, the Government’s pronouncement has paved the way for them to tap into the global paper bag market that is estimated to reach a valuation of more than US$7 billion by 2027.

Ten years ago, when brothers Saleem and David Lazarus along with their business partner Alvin Richards decided to open a paper packaging plant, little did they know that the industry would evolve to have them doubling up production runs to meet demands from both old and new customers.

“I went down to Trinidad to buy a couple bag machines because at the time we were into paper towels and our customers kept asking if we made paper bags. But when I went, I realised that the majority of the products from those machines were coming to Jamaica.

“So I got on the phone and called the companies here and asked if they would support us if we went into business. I got a resounding positive from that…” David told the Jamaica Observer.

Operating from a 25,000-square foot facility on Bell Road in Kingston, Dealaz Manufacturers and Distributors Limited today supplies more than 200 customers islandwide, including Burger King, Juici Beef, Fontana Pharmacy and KFC, with branded and unbranded paper bags that hold from 0.5 to 25 lbs.

The company, which currently employs 20 people – 12 of whom are machine operators – has seen a more than a 50 per cent increase in orders since the ban on single-use plastic bags.

“We were in a position before where we had to rely on our large clients, particularly the franchise holders. But since the start of the year I’ve found a situation where daily we are getting new customers, some potentially very big and some small shops.

“I have a customer that sells fritters and he is now coming here for stuff…I never thought I would get to that market,” he said during a tour of the facility last week.

The co-founder told the Business Observer that based on the company’s production numbers, he believes that Dealaz Manufacturers now holds the lion’s share of the local paper bag market.

Nonetheless, the Lazarus brothers want to further solidify their place as market leaders with an expansion into paper-made handle bags, straws and lunch boxes. The new product line would allow the company to target grocery shoppers and supermarkets – a market that is mostly being supplied by imports from Costa Rica and China.

So far, the duo has budgeted US$150,000 for the expansion and plans are to have the equipment for the production in place by March. In line with the expansion, Dealaz Manufacturers is also looking to hire an additional 20 people to carry out operations.

“We are currently seeking financing and we are also looking at other creative ways to bring funds into the business,” David told the Business Observer.

Interestingly, as the demand for paper products grows across the Caribbean, the Larazus brothers are also looking to expand the company’s footprint across the region. The founders have managed to get a toehold in Barbados, St Vincent, The Bahamas and Trinidad, but now their eyes are on Dominican Republic and Haiti.

“In Jamaica, you will have a ceiling because we only have three million people but Haiti has about 15 million people…Dominican Republic and all the other islands, they spend a lot of money,” David said.

HESITANCE IN THE MARKET

He, however, noted that there is still some hesitancy in the market from background noise that the Government might change its position or allow both customers and suppliers more time to prepare for the movement, since it was announced four months before it was implemented.

“Most people in Jamaica did not take the Government at its word in terms of the ban. No one was calling us in November, but when they realised that the ban was in fact happening, our phone started ringing off.

David admitted that he too was reluctant to pump funds into some business processes, as he was uncertain of the products that would have the greatest demand.

“At least now and over the next couple weeks I can predict what the customers are going to be asking for,” he reasoned.

He added that while it can be argued that making paper can lead to deforestation and consumes and a lot of energy and fossil fuels, the world is moving to renewable farms for the production of paper.

“I can’t say its unfounded but at the same time for too long Jamaica has been at the mercy of people making plastic bags, destroying it for profit, and at some stage the country has to come before the money,” he said.

ALTERNATIVE BAGS

A supplier of plastic bags for 31 years, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Agri & Industrial Packaging Limited, Hugh Gray has been sitting on the opposite side of the fence since the ban took effect.

Not only has Gray lost 20 per cent of his business to the single-use plastic ban, but the CEO also has to decide which employee’s job he will have to make redundant.

In a round-table interview with the Jamaica Observer recently, Gray said that months before the announcement, the company had invested more than $10 million in additional machinery that were expected to create greater efficiencies for Agri & Industrial’s operations.

However, that investment quickly turned into waste after the Government announced that it would put a ban on single-use plastic bags, as the products continue to contribute to blocked drains and ultimately impact land and sea.

“We are the only company that decided from 25 years ago to employ people who are challenged – 20 per cent of our staff is deaf and dumb – and to see that in three months, when we were advised, that this was going to have to wipe out that section of the business,” Gray lamented.

In addition to single-use plastic bags, Agri & Industrial also produces printed and unprinted food industry bags, plastic sheeting for construction, garbage bags, and other plastic film products for specialised applications.

Despite being one of the operators most affected by the ban, the CEO noted that he is in support of the Government’s stance, given the impact of plastics on the environment. He, however, argued that prior to the announcement, Agri & Industrial had started its own environmental preservation practice by incorporating one per cent of totally degradable plastic additives in its production process.

With the ban in effect, Gray had initially hoped to save jobs under the company’s planned switch to bags made of oxo-biodegradable plastic material, but to date the Government has not made any exemptions for the production of what is said to be a more “environmentally friendly” product.

“We all know that regular plastic is a problem because it takes more than 500 years to degrade, and when it does you will have what is called microplastics — so it is a problem.

“What we are saying, if the oxo-biodegradable plastic should get into the environment then it will degrade, whether on land or sea. What a lot of people don’t know is that when the plastic starts to degrade it is no longer plastic – it becomes what is called biomass,” representative of oxo-biodegradable plastic Canada, Donna Deidrick said.

The product, which is said to have three tiers of degradation – oxidation, biodegrading and then as food for microorganisms – is currently being used in the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia as well as Zambia, which started their environmentally friendly movement about two years ago.

“Biodegradable plastics will leave smaller plastics in the environment but what we are using is oxo-degradable additives, which is a situation where the oxygen fragments the plastics and turns it into a food source for microorganisms in the soil,” Deidrick explained.

Studies conducted by the team from Canada show that the oxo-biodegradable bags start to break down within six to 10 months of being disposed.

It’s on that basis which Gray believes the Government could engage the local plastic-producing industry in further dialogue. The CEO is also of the view that Jamaica does not have a plastic problem, but rather a waste management issue.

ROOM FOR MORE PLAYERS

As discussions continue to take place around the introduction of oxo-biodegradable single-use plastic bags in the market as more durable alternatives to paper-made bags, local start-ups are looking to fill the void in the marketplace.

“The ban on plastic bags have created a void and the void is going to be filled by other products – that’s what we are seeing now. We at the JMEA (Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association Limited) are trying to get our members to manufacture the recyclable bags that the market is moving after,” president of JMEA Metry Seaga said.

Formed in 2016, Those Creative People Tings Limited (TCP Tings) focused on developing birthday, Christmas and congrats cards, gift tags, and ‘One Bag Ah Tings’ tote bags that captured the Jamaican culture with creative twists, humour and First World designs.

The business operators have since created stylish tote bags to replace the plastic or ‘scandal’ bags commonly used by shoppers. The bags were launched recently and are being marketed under brands ‘Scandal-Free Life’, ‘Not Ah Scandal Bag’ and ‘Nuh Inna Di Scandal’. The products, which are made of a cotton-canvas material, provide consumers with a trendy and durable alternative to scandal bags.

Micro-operator ChelleMac Bags has also diversified its offering to include 20-lb tote bags. The company,which started operating little over a year ago locally, produces backpacks, cross-body bags, purses, and cosmetic bags.

Today, ChelleMac totes are made from eco-friendly material such as burlap and canvas and can be used for shopping as well as everyday purposes.