The Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCO) and Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ) have expanded their joint recycling initiative to reduce plastic pollution in resort areas in Kingston and the south coast.

On Thursday, representatives of both entities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to extend the tourism sector recycling partnership, which is already in effect in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay and Negril, to hotels and attractions in Kingston and the south coast.

Entities in these areas will be equipped with plastic container recycling bins, cages and other disposal options to be utilised by visitors and employees.

Executive director of TPDCO, Wade Mars, in his remarks during the MOU signing ceremony at RPJ’s head office in Kingston, said that engaging tourism stakeholders in recycling practices is crucial in ensuring the sector’s sustainability, particularly as Jamaica continues to record increased visitor arrivals.

“The waste that’s generated to feed these visitors… you [can] imagine, is significant,” he said.

“[By partnering] with the different hotels and attractions across the resort areas, it gives us a framework to capture waste before it gets into the natural environment,” he added.

Chairman of RPJ, Dr Damien King, said maintaining the environment requires a national effort.

“As a society, we are dissatisfied with the consequences of our improper disposal of plastic, and we are making a concerted effort, taking responsibility, to take our plastic bottles out of the normal waste stream and [making them] available for recycling,” he said.

Dr King also pointed out that the public continues to show great interest in proper recycling practices.

Citizens are encouraged to make use of the deposit refund scheme, through which they can receive a cash refund for returning used plastic bottles at RPJ’s collection depots island-wide.