The St. Croix Anti-Litter and Beautification Committee wants island residents to know that there is cash in their trash — and quite possibly a business opportunity as well.
In an effort to cut down on the amount of waste entering the territory’s landfills, and maybe create some new businesses in the process, the committee is hosting a conference Friday evening and all day Saturday, April 28-29, that's aimed at fostering new recycling businesses in the Virgin Islands.
"The conference is to expose people here in the Virgin Islands to recycling as a means of economic development," committee executive director John Green said.
Considering that 45 percent of what goes into the territory’s landfills is packaging material that has recycling value such as aluminum, glass, cardboard and plastic containers, Green said, there is an untapped source of money going, literally, to waste. The conference will introduce people to the "business of the recycling business."
Featured at the conference will be people who have started and developed successful recycling businesses in other areas, Green said. There will also be information available on the financial aspects of running such a business.
The businesses represented include a plastic and metal recycler from Trinidad, an office-paper recycler from New York, glassware blowers from St. John and representatives from a company that recycles printer and toner cartridges in Florida. Green said all the business owners are open not only to sharing their knowledge but to the possibility of partnering.
The printer-cartridge recycler recently expanded to Puerto Rico, Green said, and before that obtained a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Agency that saved NASA up to $14 million.
"This is about, one, spreading the word and, two, seeing if there are people who are interested in partnering with them," Green said. "These are some scenarios of what could be done here. It might be small scale, but it is something somebody can take."
One hurdle involved in starting a successful recycling business is accessing financing and technical information, Green said. Because of that, the St. Croix anti-litter committee will hold follow-up seminars with the University of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center.
Anti-litter is also working to develop a loan-assistance program to help people start recycling businesses.
"We don’t want to do this conference and leave people hanging," Green said. "We’d like to pay up to 50 percent of your down payment on a loan. That would help people get in business a little easier."
The conference will take place at the New Drive Inn, located in Grove Place just west of the Agriculture Deptartment building. The conference will open at 6:30 p.m. Friday with registration and a reception. The conference business sessions will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free but participants are asked to register in advance. To do so, or to obtain more information, contact Claudette Young-Hinds at 773-4489.
