KINGSTON, Jamaica — Brewing company Red Stripe has launched a project aimed at reducing the company’s waste to landfill output to zero by diverting waste streams to productive enterprise.

The wastes to be targeted under the project are primarily wood, paper, plastics and metal. Other waste streams that will also be made available include spent grain and yeast.

Speaking today at the official launch of the project at the company’s Spanish Town Road location, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Daryl Vaz said that the innovation, dubbed the ‘Red Stripe Circular Economy Project’, will also serve to benefit the economy, provide jobs and preserve the environment.

“This approach to a more appropriate waste management system that supports the environment, reduces our carbon footprint and promotes sustainable development is timely and welcomed by the Government,” he argued.

A circular economy is a system in which resources are reused for as long as possible, resources are recycled and efforts are made to reduce waste overall.

The objectives of the project are to increase awareness of the need for and benefits of a circular economy to the environment and communities; create a shift in behaviour among employees and stakeholders initially, and, ultimately, to the wider community, to reduce, recycle and reuse waste; and divert at least four types of waste to productive enterprise.

Key entities that will be involved in the project include the Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, the HEART Trust/NTA, Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), and the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The project has an initial start-up budget of $6 million.