EVERY empty bottle of Red Stripe tells a story. Some come from bars after a busy weekend, others are gathered from community events, restaurants, or roadside gatherings.

Eventually they all end up at Red Stripe’s exchange facility, where thousands of bottles are returned each day for money and prepared for reuse through the company’s RedCycling programme, extending the life of each bottle and keeping valuable materials in circulation.

For Shauna Stampp, those bottles help pay a bill, buy groceries, or support her three children.

For years, Stampp has earned a living buying and collecting scrap material and empty bottles, which she returns through Red Stripe’s bottle exchange programme. What some may overlook or leave behind has become a dependable source of income, helping her meet her household’s daily needs.

“I normally return the bottles every month, sometimes even twice a month,” Stampp shared while delivering another load of empties. “I usually do 400 to 500 crates a month time and I can make around $500,000,” added Stampp.

The work is not glamorous. It requires sourcing bottles from different communities, arranging transportation, and spending long hours collecting, sorting, and storing them before they can be returned. Yet Stampp says it has become a reliable way to earn a living while caring for her family, and she is far from alone.

According to Exchange Coordinator Tevin Campbell, thousands of bottles move through the facility every day, creating an entire economy around returned glass bottles.

“Normally we get 3,500 crates and about 89,000 bottles on average per day,” Campbell explained.

While recycling is often discussed as an environmental issue, Campbell says the reality on the ground is different.

“The main driver for people is financial aid,” he said. “People do it for a living, and then you have others who just use it for extra money in their pockets as supplemental income.”

That means every car or truckload of bottles arriving at the facility represents money.

For generations, Jamaicans have recognised the value of returning bottles. Through Red Stripe’s RedCycling programme, that value continues to extend beyond environmental benefits, supporting livelihoods, creating economic opportunities, and ensuring thousands of bottles remain in circulation each day.

For collectors like Stampp, every returned bottle represents something tangible: another contribution to her family’s future.