President Donald Ramotar last evening said that government stands ready to grant tax free concessions to any company desirous of setting up a recycling plant while lauding the introduction of biodegradable food packaging containers which could reduce the burden on the landfill and create a cleaner environment.
Ramotar at the time was addressing a small gathering at the launch of ECO PAK, a line of new environmentally friendly containers produced by Caribbean Container Inc (CCI) which is set to be put on the market in October.
Although the pricing for this new commodity which is made out wheat fibres and bagasse and which decomposes in 90 days once exposed to a combination of bacteria, soil, oxygen and sunlight is yet to be finalised, CCI officials say that there has been a positive response from those in the hotel and restaurant business towards the initiative.
Government, in a bid to improve the environment had announced in June that it will soon be enacting legislation to ban the importation of non-biodegradable material including styrofoam and plastics and that it would increase litter penalties.
The President in delivering the feature address stated that recycling has become extremely important in today’s world and noted that Guyana is driving to have a low carbon development strategy. In this regard he said it is very important that recycling becomes “more and more a part of our culture.”
He said that the steps taken by CCI to produce this product are important and urged other businesses to take up similar ventures to help effectively deal with the issues plaguing our environment.
“I am ready to use government’s resources, to give tax free concessions to anyone who wants to set up a recycling plant for plastic and for styrofoam. I think that would be very important for us in tackling the problems that we face with many of these types of materials,” Ramotar said.
He anticipated that in the future more businesses will be looking for new materials and ways will have to be found to remove the offensive materials from the environment so that we can all enjoy a clean and healthy environment. “What better way of doing that than by making some money,” he said.
Chief Operating Officer, Patricia Bacchus in giving an overview of the new product said that the environmental effect of styrofoam and plastics is evident to all, and it was against this backdrop that CCI created the product which includes tableware – plates and cups and take-out food boxes such as burger boxes and a variety of food and salad containers.
She said that CCI whose goal is to produce environmentally friendly paper and packaging solutions recognized the need for eco-friendly alternatives for the use of styrofoam and plastics. Bacchus said that the ECO PAK line of products is made from bagasse – sugar cane fibre. She explained to those gathered that a policy position was made by CCI to avoid package alternatives that were made from wood pulp because of the impact this would have on trees and the additional water and energy resources required in the wood pulp process.
A sugar cane crop, she said, re-generates much more quickly and is less resource intensive. ECO Pak is 100% biodegradable after use, she explained, with decomposition completed after 90 days.
Bacchus later told Stabroek News that the pricing of the new product will depend on a number of factors including duty free concessions, the VAT status of the item as well as the feedback from the business community.
She said that CCI’s board of directors had been looking at diversification options for about 12 months but over the last three to four months “we have really identified this product largely because of the environmental concerns over styrofoam and how prevalent that is, at this time.”
Asked what happened if a container is left in a refrigerator or freezer for a prolonged period of time, Bacchus said that there will be no effect as the container would need to be exposed to certain bacteria, soil, sunlight and oxygen before the decomposition process would start. “The process will not start unless there is a combination of these elements. You can have it in your fridge for as long as you want,” was the assurance she gave.
She said that because of the urgency of the issue, the company was unable to do a structured survey but the line was viewed by entities such as Oasis Café, German’s Restaurant and Palm Court. Those three entities, she said have indicated that they would use it as soon as it is available on the market.
Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud indicated that the government launched the Pick it Up Campaign to ensure that the garbage crisis would be tackled head on. He said that CCI was one of the first companies that stepped forward with an initiative to support government’s countrywide community drive.
He said there is no system in place for the collection of plastics to have them recycled. He said that the President was very much in favour of company being approached to set up recycling plants for plastics and also to look at the issue of styrofoam.
Persaud said that it was recognized that alternatives had to be created. He used the opportunity to appeal to consumers to demand eco friendly material from the businesses they use. He appealed to businesses and the country as a whole to support the ECO PAK line of products
Ronald Webster, CCI CEO and Chairman of the board, said that keeping the environment clean is of critical importance as sometimes this is what attracts investments.
Later explaining the layout of the Farm, East Bank location, he said that there is a paper mill at the back of the compound which can produce 800 tonnes of paper a month. It is currently running at 33% capacity he said, but that efforts are being made to increase it.
Webster said that the raw material used is Old Corrugated Containers (OCC) which are collected locally by about 100 people. Some of the OCC is imported from Barbados, Trinidad and Suriname.
He stated that corrugated packaging is produced in four colours if needed, noting that every company in Guyana buys packaging from CCI while 40% of the production is shipped to Trinidad and Suriname.
The performance for the six months of 2012 he added, is almost double the amount for the same period last year.
He said that there is a fibre recovery division that deals with the collection of waste paper or OCC, and the intention is to increase domestic collections. Every ton of waste paper takes 3 cubic metres of landfill, and 33% of garbage thrown away is paper based.
According to Webster, there is a tremendous opportunity for collection and conversion.
Commenting on further plans, he said that the company intends to start using newsprint for the production of trays for eggs and fruits. He expressed hope that that equipment would be in place by March next year.
Before the end of this year, he said, bag making equipment would be in place.
Also present at the event were Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, APNU MP Rupert Roopnaraine and members of the diplomatic corps and the business community.
