NORANDA Bauxite says that it is doing its part in terms of proper waste management, by collecting plastic bottles for the Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ) project, which seeks to boost the waste management mechanism and reduce the amount of plastic entering Jamaica’s environment each year. 

Currently, Noranda collects between 40 and 60 large bags of plastic bottles generated from its facilities — both plant and mines — as well as employees. The bottles are then collected by the RPJ, on a quarterly basis, and recycled.

The waste management system has been an initiative of Noranda for the last three years.

Last month, Noranda also committed to planting 200,000 trees over the next three years, as part of the Government’s National Tree Planting Initiative.

“At Noranda, we make every effort to be environmentally conscious. As such, we support the implementation of proper waste management systems for our company. A major part of our mission is to put in place a comprehensive environmental sustainability programme,” Noranda’s General Manager Delroy Dell commented.

“We will continue our work to expand the collection and recycling programme, and we are happy to support RPJ recycling and proper waste management initiatives,” he added.

RPJ Chairman Damien King commended Noranda and all the other companies that have done the work to put proper waste management systems in place in order to help reduce the impact of plastic waste.

“The RPJ is dedicated to working with corporate Jamaica to bring further awareness to this issue,” Dr King said.

Noranda Bauxite, located in St Ann, mines and ships bauxite for metallurgical and non-metallurgical applications globally. Noranda Bauxite is a subsidiary of New Day Aluminum — an investment and management company that manages assets in metals, mining, refining and specialty industries.

Founded in 2014, Recycle Jamaica Partners is a collaboration between the Government of Jamaica and a collection of private sector entities, designed to channel the recovery, collection and diversion of plastic bottles from entering Jamaica’s waste streams. Since January 2015, the RJP’s efforts have led to the collection of more than 7.4 million pounds of plastic.

They collect the polyethylene terephthalate bottles, which are used by soft drinks companies, as well as the high-density polyethylene blow-moulded containers used for detergents, shampoos, motor oil, milk, and other liquid products, as well as drugs and cosmetic products.