RePLAST Partners Get Orientation in Fundamentals of Plastic Recycling
Small business enterprises (SMEs) in waste collection, solid waste management personnel and hotels signed up to participate in the collection of plastic waste under the RePLAST-OECS Pilot Plastic Recycling Project have concluded the first in a series of training sessions on a range of themes pertinent to the development of a sustainable plastic recycling industry in Saint Lucia. The logic behind the training is that a sustainable recycling culture and sector is contingent upon a shared commitment to environmental responsibility and stewardship by the private and public sectors.
Along with personnel from the Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority (SLSWMA) and Harbor Club, the first virtual training workshop was also attended by the operators of three plastic waste collection businesses, namely Recyclene Solutions Limited, Bio-Helps Limited and Renew Saint Lucia Inc. Under the theme ‘Fundamentals of Plastic Recycling’, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Circular Economy provided the context for recycling plastic, especially for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Saint Lucia which rely heavily on industries that are directly sustained by the natural environment. Under the business aspect of the industry, participants were exposed to modules on Recyclable Commodities, Equipment Used in Recycling, Facility Design and Layout, Facility Operations and Maintenance.
The training was designed and facilitated by RePLAST-OECS Waste Management Specialist, Ronald Roach, who explained the rationale for this kind of capacity building. “The training for recyclers is necessary because very often recyclers have evolved, either in waste collection, transport or logistics, or started a business because they saw a niche opportunity but did not necessarily have the requisite training and background to understand the full scope of recycling which one needs to be able to envision the future in both the operational dimension as well as the bigger market picture with various factors at play,” Roach explained.
Miguel Morgan, a second generation family business manager at Bio-Helps Limited, corroborated Roach’s comments in his feedback on the training. According to Morgan, the RePLAST initiative changed his perceptions about plastic collection.
“As a boy, I saw the struggle my father went through and could not understand why,” Morgan said. “But my father had a heart for it, just like all the other waste collection operators partnering with RePLAST.”Morgan added that the knowledge he has acquired through his company’s close association with RePLAST-OECS Project has “given me that heart, because everyone is responsible for the environment and if you take it up as a business, it is because for you it is also about more than dollars and cents.”
In the upcoming sessions, it is expected that other businesses and individuals who are signing up to participate in the collection of plastics will be exposed to the training. Capacity building is an important plank in the implementation of the RePLAST-OECS Project. Further training will also accompany the handing over of special bailing equipment sourced by the Project on behalf of the plastic collection companies and the Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority. Ahead of the operationalization of RePLAST Collection Points, training with over 100 volunteers is ongoing. The scheduled launch and operationalization of the RePLAST Collection Points last November had to be postponed due to the trends in community spread of the Coronavirus in Saint Lucia. The Project is engaged with the health authorities to determine the earliest date when it will be deemed safe to commence RCP operations, and the attendant protocols to be instituted when the all-clear is given.
