JAMAICA took another major step in becoming a greener and more sustainable island with the recent opening of a new plastic recycling facility in Naggo Head, Portmore, St Catherine.

The plastic waste management facility has expanded the collection capabilities of Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ).

RPJ is an extended producers organisation and the designated national recycling entity, formed by public and private partnerships with the Government of Jamaica.

Its mandate is to remove plastic bottles from the environment and to divert these from landfills through engagement with various stakeholders.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Recycling Partners of Jamaica Executive Chairman Dr Damien King said that the organisation’s capacity continues to grow.

Describing the work of reducing plastic waste as a journey, he said a key component of the task is increasing the number of plastic bottles collected each year.

“From south Negril point to Morant Point we have to be collecting all of the bottles. We need to visit the beaches, the gullies, the sidewalks and try to get all of the bottles that are already out there out of all of those areas and into a Recycling Partners depot. We do this by collecting some of them ourselves and by supporting other organisations when they do their clean-ups,” he said.

Dr King noted that prior to the pandemic, about seven per cent of all plastic bottles were being collected. However, he stated that post-pandemic bottle collection has now risen to 30 per cent.

“The global average is 27 per cent, [which we are above] and this understates what we have achieved in the last five years because the market keeps expanding. So, we are collecting 30 per cent of a larger volume. Five years ago, 60 million bottles were collected,” he said.

Dr King pointed out that in 2023, approximately 278 million bottles were collected, adding that Jamaicans need to play their part in the movement to create a cleaner country.

“This is a journey that goes through public education to harness that national pride into a movement… until we get everyone on this journey, and it is something for which Jamaica is known… and something, as a nation, we can take pride in,” he said.

He noted that the entity has established seven collection depots.

“We now have access to 31 trucks, and we have placed islandwide over 500 cages for people to contribute bottles. Our capital expenditure [in 2023] topped $280 million,” he pointed out.

General manager Gairy Taylor said the success of the company, thus far, is a result of the collective efforts and unwavering commitment of the RPJ team and industry partners.

“We have made recycling more accessible to communities across Jamaica and fostered a more widespread adoption of responsible plastic disposal practices, despite having significant setbacks over the last couple of years,” he said.

He said the opening of the new location at Naggo Head has increased the company’s processing capacity and potential to collect and export plastic recyclables, “and our efforts have now shifted towards reaching our recovery goal of 85 per cent over the coming years”.

Taylor said, while a financial incentive of $50 per kilogramme is paid for bottles redeemed, over the last year, approximately 20 per cent of the plastic RPJ collected were through donations.

“We believe that the public will continue to support our efforts once we continue to build convenient, well-run collection points and infrastructure to process and export the bottles,” he said.

Taylor said, too, that construction has commenced for five new depot locations across the island, which should become operational by August 2024.

“This will generate employment opportunities for close to 100 individuals and create other economic and entrepreneurial activities in those locations. Simultaneously, we have also identified and produced additional bailers, trucks, compactors, and other equipment to support these locations,” he stated.

“This substantial investment will cost us close to $300 million over the next six to eight months and will provide us with the infrastructure to process between 50 to 60 per cent of the beverage industry’s plastic bottles monthly,” he added.

He said that the company was also is the process of engaging a consultant to develop a second layer of community recycling centres.

According to the managing director, the number of cages will also be increased across the island.

“The work of RPJ is an excellent model of public-private sector partnership, not just with the Government but also with the people of Jamaica, working together to create solutions that will help foster national pride and promote a cleaner, safer, healthier Jamaica,” he said.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Senator Matthew Samuda, in his remarks, explained that exceeding the global plastic recycling target is a milestone for which Jamaica should be proud.

He stated that Jamaica is on track to implement a global treaty signed last year, which calls for countries to collect and recycle 70 per cent of their plastic waste.

This, he said, is as a result of the Government’s working relationship with Recycling Partners of Jamaica over the last eight years.

“So, similar to the Paris Agreement, as it relates to climate change, you make an agreement, and the people spend the next 10 years trying to bring it to life. The difference is because of the partnership, I believe started in 2014/2015 with Recycling Partners Jamaica and the Government, because of the renewed, strengthened and significantly increased commitment of the private sector to this programme, Jamaica will be well on its way to not just ratify but implement the terms of that treaty long before the rest of the region,” he said.

Recently, Senator Samuda announced that the target date for the ban on plastic lunch boxes and personal-care products with microplastic beads is June 1.

This forms another layer of the Government’s plan to ensure greater waste management, while safeguarding the environment.

“We have taken the lesson of the first round of the plastic ban as it relates to public education and need to give sufficient lead time,” the minister said.

Additionally, he said the development of a national policy on the environmental sound management of single-use plastic products is to be done this coming fiscal year.

“The prime minister has also announced, ahead of his budget debate, that he has directed that a programme aimed at the separation of plastics and other recyclables in the ministries, departments and agencies commence this fiscal year,” Samuda said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who was also at the opening, said legislation will be developed and brought to Parliament to support the new policy.

“It is important that the work being done here is supported by the public effort of being responsible in the management and disposal of waste. The Government can aid in this, and we will aid in this. We will be making a special budgetary allocation for a public education campaign to support the proper disposal of waste, in particular plastics, and that will be very much a line item in the next budget,” he said.

The prime minister said further details of the initiative will be announced prior to its implementation.

Meanwhile, Holness advised that several pilot waste separation projects have been implemented in various communities with support from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), the World Bank, and the Japanese Government, among other partners.

He said the policy for the separation of waste and recycling of plastics in public entities follows previous programmes by the Government, such as the ban on single-use plastic.

— JIS