Over quarter million PET plastic bottles collected as part of Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment’s plastic waste-free initiative
Over quarter million PET plastic water and soda bottles have been collected, to date, since the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment launched its plastic waste-free Antigua and Barbuda initiative.
At the end of 13 weeks, the Ministry has collected a total of 291,527 plastic bottles with Oasis being the most popular brand as 177,883 bottles have been turned over. This is 61.02 percent of all the bottles collected.
Officials say that over 27,000 soda bottles have been collected- a ratio of 10 percent of the overall total.
About 100,000 other brands of water bottles have been collected as well.
Week 13 of the initiative saw a cumulative total of 38,884 bottles being turned in from the four outlets – Epicurean Drive, Ebenezer South Mall, Crab Hole Liquors Cobbs Cross and All Saints Road- Fresh and Easy Supermarket.
In July, the month in which the initiative started, over 51,000 bottles were collected; 101,875 in August and in September over 138,000.
Persons turning in bottles receive 20 cents per bottle.
Phase two of the project is being called Waste-to-Product.
The Ministry says, “Turning this useless waste into useful products can extend its life and keep it from going straight to (the) landfill.”
It was noted that HDPE, also known as #2 plastic, is used in countless everyday products such as shopping bags, pipes, crates, and detergent and milk bottles.
