Nov. 19, 2002 – After a hiatus of three weeks, Zan's Recycling is again accepting glass, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, office paper, No. 1 plastic and aluminum cans for recycling at various locations around St. Thomas and St. John.
Zan's was forced to stop accepting items on Oct. 29 because the response was overwhelming after expanded recycling began in mid-September.
"The contractor had too much stuff in his yard," said Cordell Jacobs, who serves as director of the St. Thomas-St. John Anti-litter and Beautification Commission.
Jacobs said the contractor and the commission also had to catch up with the paperwork. He said that during the first 1 1/2 months of recycling, Zan's collected nearly 100,000 pounds of materials. Cardboard topped the list with 79,000 pounds.
"People have an opportunity to get a lot of cardboard," Jacobs said.
He said that people who deliver appliances and trucking company employees bring in the cardboard for recycling. Bar and restaurant staff members as wells as hotel maids recycle aluminum cans and glass found on their jobs, which augments their income.
"But our goal is to make people understand recycling helps the environment. You don't just do it for the money," Jacobs said.
Recycling does pay, however. Newspaper, office paper, cardboard and glass are worth 5 cents a pound; plastic brings 25 cents a pound; and aluminum gets 50 cents a pound. The commission was forced to drop the price for newspaper, cardboard, office paper and glass from 25 cents a pound to 5 cents a pound because it has a heavier weight than the other materials.
Jacobs said that on Tuesday, the first day the recycling program reopened, lines were long as people brought in the materials they stockpiled during the three weeks the program didn't operate.
Recycle on St. Thomas from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day at Zan's Recycling, located behind Lima's Superette in Bovoni; from 2 to 5 p.m. Fridays at the cricket field next to Ivanna Eudora Kean High School; from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays at Price Smart parking lot and Lockhart Gardens; and from 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays at the USO parking lot on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront.
On St. John, recycle from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays at the parking lot next to the public tennis courts.
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