A plastic waste recycling pilot project—RePLAST-OECS—began operations on Jan. 16 by establishing the first of six collections points in Saint Lucia.

The Gros Islet RePLAST Collection Point will be operated from the park adjoining the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre. It is one of three points for the northern region. Its operations and scheduled collection days will be managed by the Gros Islet Constituency Council. The other two collection points will be located at Monchy and Grande Riviere.

The RePLAST-OECS pilot plastic recycling project, launched in May 2019, is a two-year public-private initiative being implemented by UNITE Caribbean. The plastic collected will be exported to a recycling plant in the Caribbean.

The first pilot country is Saint Lucia with subsequent replication in other OECS territories.

To date, the RePLAST‒OECS Project has facilitated an experimental shipment working with local recyclers. This included two 40-foot containers of baled PET bottles of approximately 26,000 pounds (lbs). Such plastic waste would normally be disposed of at the island’s landfill. Along with myriad environmental benefits, recycling also serves to increase the life of the landfill.