Thousands of Plastics Bottles Removed from Palisadoes Strip During Beach Clean-up!  

Over 4,600 plastic bottles were collected from a section of the Palisadoes strip during the Jamaica Environment Trust’s (JET) 14^th annual beach clean-up along the Strip on Saturday, September 15^th. The clean-up was in observance of International Coastal Clean-up Day, the largest one-day volunteer event celebrated worldwide in more than 60 countries. 

Approximately 300 volunteers representing 21 schools and 30 service clubs, private sector and government agencies participated in the clean-up. Volunteers collected 184 bags of garbage from both sides of the Palisadoes strip between Harbour View Roundabout and the Norman Manley International Airport.  The garbage was dominated by plastic bottles and included other items such as plastic and paper bags (3,016), caps and lids (1,753), and food wrapper and containers (1,505).

Participants in JET's 14th Annual Beach Clean Up at the Palisadoes Strip on Saturday, September 15th, 2007. From L-R Avielle Jones, Luke Donalds, Jair Jones and Nicholas Donalds.

For the third consecutive year all PET plastic bottles (soda and transparent juice bottles) and HDPE 2 plastic bottles collected were recycled. The bottles were transported by Pepsi Cola Jamaica Ltd. to JET’s recycling depot, where they were picked up by PET (Protect the Environment Trust) and shipped abroad for recycling. 

“Plastic bottles continue to be the most abundant item collected during the clean-up. There has been no significant reduction in the number of plastic bottles collected over the years. JET has been petitioning the government for the past two years to implement and island wide recycling programme as we feel that urgent attention needs to be given to this problem,” said Kerry-Ann Curtis, JET’s Project Coordinator. 

She went on, “There has been a growing interest in recycling by the general public and our volunteers at the clean-up showed great interest, so now would be a good time to implement such a programme.”  

Annick Rhone, a beach clean-up participant for the past nine years commended the event, “This is a great opportunity to increase public awareness of the impact of our garbage on marine life, as well as play an active role in cleaning up the environment. I encourage everyone to get involved, and next year invite their friends too.” 

The data collected will be sent to the Ocean Conservancy in the United States, the international coordinator for International Coastal Clean-up Day, and will be included in their database on marine debris worldwide.    

This year’s beach clean-up was sponsored by the Airports Authority Jamaica, NEM Insurance Company Ltd., Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd., Jamaica Energy Partners, The Gleaner Company Limited and other members of corporate Jamaica.