There’s more to recycling than just collecting empty cans and bottles and dumping them with the territory’s only recycling company, GHC Reid & Co. Ltd.
Samoan High School students got to see what recycling involves during an open house at GHC Reid in Tafuna last week.
According to General Manager Cherith Lober, GHC Reid has been recycling for over 20 years through the collection of used beverage cans and Vailima bottles.
Beverage cans are sent to Oakland, California for recycling. Vailima bottles are the only returnable glass bottles in American Samoa and can be collected and sent back to Samoa.
Lober says each year they send 1 – 2 containers of UBC (used beverage cans) but they hope to boost that number to three containers this year.
And GHC Reid sends around 1 million empty Vailima bottles back to Samoa, annually.
In their latest recycling venture with the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency which took six months, they’ve collected enough to fill one High Cube container full of baled beverage cans to the US. Total pounds collected was 42,847.
Another container is half full.
Lober says GHC Reid conducts the recycling operation because it is their stewardship to our island.
At times it is a money losing operation if they do not collect enough volume to send off island.
Lober explains they cover the costs of maintenance of balers and vehicles, wages for the recycle collectors, fuel, hauling, purchase of recyclables and most of all freight costs.
GHC Reid absorbs these costs for six months while it seeks buyers off island to purchase recyclables at prices that will offset the total costs.
Lober says their company is thankful to have Swire Shipping who has offered their support through a discounted freight rate.
She hopes the community can get on the recycling band wagon and help GHC Reid with its recycling efforts by selling their empty beverage cans and empty VaiIima bottles to their company.
The company is also actively seeking off-island takers for plastic bottles.
Lober said, “We seek the help of the community through churches and schools to educate our people, young and old to collect used beverage cans and Vailima bottles and Sell them to GHC Reid…because there is value in these recyclables.”
