Feb. 19, 2003 – Hang on to your recyclables. While the Anti-litter and Beautification Commission's program on St. Thomas and St. John is temporarily shut down, its chair, Edwin Davis, said on Wednesday that he expects it to resume before the end of February.
The problem, he said, is that the program has used up its current funding allotment.
"We were overwhelmed. We had no idea so many people are interested in recycling" he said.
He said the paperwork is in progress to secure an additional allotment.
Davis said the program, which began last September, had expended more than $400,000. The money comes from a tax on aluminum cans and glass bottles imported into the territory that has been in existence for 11 years.
Newspaper, office paper, cardboard and glass are worth 5 cents a pound, plastic brings 25 cents a pound, and aluminum, 50 cents a pound.
Davis said that some heavy-duty customers turn in $4,000 and $5,000 worth of glass bottles for recycling at a time. However, he said people with minuscule amounts of recyclables are equally important to the program. "It saves all this stuff from going to the landfill," he said.
In November, the program shut down for a few weeks to allow the recycler, Zan's, to catch up on processing all the materials that had been turned in.
When operations resume, here's where and when you can trade your recyclables for cash:
St. Thomas:
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day — Zan's Recycling, located behind Lima's Superette in Bovoni.
2 to 5 p.m. Fridays — the cricket field next to Ivanna Eudora Kean High School.
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays — the PriceSmart and Lockhart Gardens parking lots.
2 to 6 p.m. Sundays — the USO parking lot on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront.
St. John:
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays — the parking lot next to the public tennis courts in Cruz Bay.
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