Recycling center Bocas

Isla Colon Recycling centre

This project has been very close to Claudia and Marlins hearts for a long time and with plastic and waste pollution becoming an ever growing issue. This project hopes to make a impact on the waste management of this piece of paradise.

This organisation is run purely on the energy of volunteers and funded with personal investments from Tom Wright the founder of Wasteless World and donations from community.

The project which has only been going for a few weeks, has already made its mark on recycling here on Isla Colon and with organizing frequent beach clean ups for the surrounding islands its not just Isla Colon they are helping. Here are some alarming facts about waste pollution from their website:

• By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.
• At least 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year. That’s similar to emptying a garbage truck of plastic into an ocean every minute.
• There is more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way.
• The average person eats 74,000 microplastics each year, which polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from plastics are linked to harmful health effects, including various cancers, a weakened immune system, reproductive problems and more.
• The demand for plastic products is expected to grow up to 36% in the next 6 years.

The founder of Wasteless World Tom Wright, pondered on the question how he can influence the environmental world. He created Wasteless World with the long term objective of changing global policy, to lead to a more sustainable future.

His aim is to build plastic workshops run by members of the community which shred, melt and mould plastic bottles and containers into materials which can be used for building.