WASTE PAPER, which previously found its way to the Riverton City landfill, will in a few weeks be destined for an alternate location in Riverton 11 Park Way. Caribbean Paper Recycling Company (CPR) is investing over US$1 million into a new plant for the processing of used cardboard, newspaper, and office paper waste. This company whose slogan is "CPR: We Bring Paper Back To Life" will be recycling paper from Jamaica and creating a new commodity for export.
CPR is one of the most recent investors facilitated by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO). "Our company plans to take 20% of the waste stream (paper) that goes to the landfill now, extending the life of Riverton landfill by the same 20 per cent. We hope to be beneficial to Jamaica in several ways, but most importantly helping to clean the environment," says Philip Corrigan, President of CPR. CPR's entry into Jamaica will not only impact our garbage disposal system, reducing the volume of waste going to the landfill, but will also provide new jobs for Jamaicans who are to be hired as plant managers and operators at the facility. The recycling of paper from other waste will create more jobs for truckers who bring products to CPR and take finished processed containers to the ports for shipping overseas. Providers of professional services also stand to benefit as all insurance, accounting, banking and legal assistance that the company requires will be contracted locally.
WASTE PAPER
Garbage Disposal and Sanitation Systems (GDSS) of Kingston will be supplying CPR with the waste paper, cardboard and news from its collection system and from others looking4 to reduce the cost of waste removal. The paper trucked to CPR's factory will be sorted by grade, "cleaned", and compacted into bales by state-of-the-art recycling machinery. Once loaded into containers they will be shipped to mills that convert the material into new paper products. The plant intends to export some 20,000 tonnes of baled paper each year.
CPR is the brainchild of American entrepreneurs Philip Corrigan and James Orioli both equal managing partners as well as minority interest Steve Lalino. They represent an amalgamation of skills and expertise in the technical, financial and analytic areas of waste management. It is their hope to provide a venue for our island to recycle its waste, create jobs and opportunity from a product that we today throw away.
JAMPRO has been working with the investors ever since their decision to commence operations in Jamaica. "We have attached great priority to facilitating the start-up of new recycling operations with a view to reducing the local impact and cost of our waste. We were therefore pleased to assist this company in obtaining Free Zone incentives, the first company if its kind to receive Single Entity Free Zone status", notes Dahlia Reckord, Consultant in Investment Promotions at JAMPRO.
CPR's concept of bringing paper back to life is not new in the US where 38% of the raw material used in paper mills is recycled paper. Almost 70% of all the newsprint used in the US is recycled according to TAPPI the leading Technical Association for Worldwide Pulp and Paper Industry. Recycling saves forests, provides paper where forest do not exist, and helps clean the world environment "CPR is honoured to be a small part of this great island nation. We look forward to providing the benefits of recycling to Jamaica for many years to come," said Philip Corrigan of CPR.
