THE CAYMANIAN COMPASS - Wednesday 11 February 2003

 

"John Gray Recyclers salvage plastic" by Tara Bush

 

The John Gray Recyclers handed over thousands of plastic six-pack rings also known as holders to Bodden Beverages Thursday.

This marked the second time students from John Gray High School presented the beverage company with six-pack rings.  Bodden Beverages will reuse the rings so canned 12-packs, which come in cardboard boxes, can be remade into six packs.  Bodden Beverages sponsors the shippping of any leftover holders to a recycling plant in California.

Bodden Beverages' owner Mr James Bodden told the Caymanian Compass that the John Gray Recyclers programme has made his workers' tasks easier.

"Six packs or six pack cases are more popular than 12-packs.  The plastic rings we were getting were for machine use and make them hard to use.  They were making some of ther workers' hands sore but these are really working out well." Mr Bodden commented.

John Gray Recyclers co-ordinator Ms Christine Whitehead stated that 21 organisations and companies assisted in collecting the six-pack holders.

"We are very excited about this programme as it is the first time that plastic has been recycled in the Cayman Islands," she said.

John Gray Recyclers' president Jeremy Forbes noted that the group is working on several coral reef preservation projects in the Cayman Islands, and in the Pacific in Fiji.

"As part of our coral reef project, protecting Barkers and coral reefs in the Cayman Islands in general, we started six-pack holders recycling.  People thave to understand that everything is connected - the world, the community.  Everything has a place, it is like one big chain." Forbes said.

"We all have to do our part to ensure that the environment is protected," he emphasised.