KINGSLAND, Manchester — Minister with responsibility for the environment Matthew Samuda says Jamaica is leading in the Caribbean with a collection rate above 40 per cent of plastic bottles for recycling.

“I am proud of the investment that has been made by the manufacturing sector, as based on my own research and [information from] colleague ministers over the last few weeks Jamaica is now number one in the Caribbean in its recovery rate of plastic bottles produced monthly into recycling,” Samuda said Thursday at the opening of the Recycling Partners of Jamaica’s (RPJ) Kingsland plastic recycling depot.

Samuda told his audience that he is optimistic that Jamaica can become the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to reach the goal of over 70 per cent recovery rate of plastic bottles per month for recycling.

“There is a bit of a haze as to where we fall within the total [LAC] region because you get one number when you ask one person and another when you ask another person, but RPJ reaching to 42 per cent is momentous and it is consequential and it matters. Jamaica getting to the stage where above 40 per cent of the bottles produced each month are now coming back into RPJ, it is a big deal,” he said.

He added that countries in northern Europe are struggling between 60 and 70 per cent in the recovery rate of plastic bottles.

“Seventy per cent is in many ways the gold standard and the ambition because very few people achieve it, but I think with the model that is before us, and the commitment of the partners, with the support of the Government, we will get above 50 per cent when all of those elements come together. I believe Jamaica can be the first nation in the Latin American and Caribbean region that does achieve this 70 per cent goal of the collection of plastics,” he said.

The Kingsland Plastic Recycling Depot has been described as a “game changer” by political, environment, and business leaders for south-central Jamaica with the capacity to produce more than 136,000 pounds of plastic per month.

Director at the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association John O Minott Jr welcomed the initiative.

“This facility not only provides a critical avenue for residents and businesses in the parish of Manchester to properly dispose of waste, but it also demonstrates the economic opportunities inherent in recycling. Though depots like this plastic waste can be transformed from an environmental hazard into a valuable resource, creating jobs, reducing landfill volumes and contributing to a cleaner Jamaica,” he said.