Georgetown: Puran Brothers Disposal Incorporated has agreed to collaborate with Caribbean Containers Incorporated (CCI), by supplying old corrugated cardboard (OCC) to satisfy the lack of such material for recycling purposes.
The waste disposal company will be facilitating the collection of cardboard during its routine collection of waste from residents and businesses.
This move by Puran Bothers to facilitate the collection process for CCI, comes in light of CCI’s indication of the need for much more material to carry out its mandate.
During the first of a series of workshops hosted by the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme, CCI revealed that the quantity of cardboard supply locally cannot satisfy even half of the company’s operations. As such, it is forced to import cardboard material from Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname to satisfy its entire complement of material.
According to CCI’s Chief Operations Officer Patricia Bacchus, the company recycles 4000 metric tonnes of cardboard per annum, a third of which is emanated from Guyana.
During her presentation at the media workshop on solid waste management hosted by Guyenterprise on Friday last, Bacchus pointed out that CCI had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Local Government to obtain a plot of land to provide a space for residents and other corporate businesses to store their cardboard in containers, instead of disposing of them.
The CCI official also highlighted that a proposal was sent to the Mayor and City Council, requesting that it plays the role as the authority to encourage market vendors to separate their cardboard from other waste, but the request was denied.
Explaining the reason for the decision taken by the M&CC, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Greene said “there were a number of regulations surrounding the collection of cardboards and we do not have systems in place where our workers go individually to collect cardboards from stall holders so any agent can go and have a talk with the stall holders, do your marketing”.
However the two organisations have agreed to reengage each other over the matter to ensure a way forward.
Meanwhile, it is on the heels of this revelation that CCI lacks space to gather the material that Puran Brothers decided to provide its services for cause.
Puran Brothers said the organisation will be making available land space at Crane Public Road, West Demerara, for the storage of cardboard collected.
General Manager of Puran Brothers Kaleshwar Puran said he will be asking his clients to separate their waste from the cardboard.
“We would even give the workers an additional fee to separate the waste because we are not looking to make a profit. You got to start somewhere”. He believes this is the way forward in reducing solid waste sent to the Haags Bosch Landfill Site and assisting CCI in accumulating enough material locally to recycle.
According to Paper Waste Recovery and Recycling Manager Simeon Taylor, CCI is currently in the process of acquiring containers to store the cardboard collected by Puran’s disposal.
The facilitation of the collection is expected to kick off this month.
Taylor also pointed out that CCI is also in discussion with Cevon’s Waste Management for the undertaking of similar services.
The collaboration between the solid waste management companies and CCI, forms part of efforts by corporate Guyana, forged by the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme, to reduce, reuse and recycle the amount of solid waste produced by businesses.
CCI operates the only Paper Recycling Mill in Caricom, manufacturing Linerboard and fluting medium, using waste paper as feedstock. Domestic collections of waste paper (OCC grade) removes from the local waste stream the equivalent of 1,200 cubic meters of landfill space monthly.
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