OPT USA, the US subsidiary of South-Africa based Ocean Plastic Technologies, has created a plastics recycling programme in the US Virgin Islands, a group of Caribbean islands.
The company specialises in business-to-business closed-loop recycling, building on-site micro recycling pods that can process all grades of plastic. The micro plants can be operated by one person and encompass shredding, cleaning, drying, and granulating. Each pod fits in a 20-feet container (5.90 mx 2.35 m x 2.39 m) for easy transportation to remote locations like islands.
The programme will deploy recycling infrastructure for PET, HDPE, and PP close to waste sources with the goal of avoiding plastic waste ending up in the ocean. The island of Saint Thomas will be the first to join the programme which is expected to eventually expand to Saint John’s and Saint Croix. OPT USA plans to process additional plastics and start production of recyclates as the programme expands.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is supporting the initiative, alongside the University of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority, and the Opi’a Taino organisation, a non-profit organisation working to address long-terms needs of communities affected by disasters.
“We are excited to support the growth of recycling infrastructure in the US Virgin Islands by enabling OPT to replicate their successful track record in South Africa in a new geography,” said Nicholas Kolesch, vice president of projects at the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. “This project will demonstrate a solution that can be deployed in other island geographies and across the Americas to collect, process, and valorise plastic waste.”
Ocean Plastic Technologies has been deploying micro recycling pods in Southern Africa for the past eight years. So far, it has recycled 2,757 tonnes of plastic waste every year into new products including toys, outdoor furniture, and agricultural products.
The new initiative is expected to create an industry for plastics recycling in the US Virgin Islands, generating revenue and creating jobs.
“Our technology is designed to expand and create recycling in communities and industries across the globe and domestically in the US,” said Michael Vincent, President and CEO at OPT USA. “OPT USA’s on-site recycling model creates revenue streams through combining a condensed value chain with superior logistics efficiencies,” he concluded.
Source: sustainableplastics.com
