Early December target for

Waste recycling facility

By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor

BAHAMAS Waste yesterday said it expected to have its cardboard recycling facility "up and running" by the beginning of December 2009, and is targeting 500 tonnes of cardboard per month for processing.

Francisco de Cardenas, the BISX-listed company's managing director, also confirmed to Tribune Business yesterday that it hoped to "be making biodiesel in the first quarter" 2010, once all necessary government permits and approvals were received.

Adding that Bahamas Waste had enjoyed "a nice third quarter" this year from a financial performance perspective, Mr de Cardenas said that in relation to the company's cardboard recycling initiative, "we're basically waiting on a few more parts for the bailer.

"We then go through a period of testing on the machine, and then we'll be good to go. I would say that within the next month, probably by the beginning of December, we'll be up and running. We're going to be trying to get about 500 tonnes of cardboard in a month."

Mr de Cardenas said Bahamas Waste would be recovering a product it normally dumped in the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway landfill, processing and recycling it, and then attempting to sell it for export.

He added that the company would be going through a "learning curve" with the cardboard recycling facility, and it would take time to reach the 500 tonnes per month level.

Hinting that Bahamas Waste would eventually look at other recycling efforts, said: "Cardboard is the beginning, and we will see what else, but right now we're focusing efforts on cardboard."

As for Bahamas Waste's biodiesel plans, Mr de Cardenas told Tribune Business: "The equipment is being manufactured, we are sourcing our tankage and working with the BEST Commission on the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan.

"Our plans have been submitted, and we're hoping we will not have any glitches and that everything will move forward. We suspect we'll possibly be making biodiesel in the first quarter."

Mr de Cardenas said he "wouldn't be surprised if we make 100,000 gallons of biodiesel in the first year", with any product it produces entirely for use in its own vehicle fleet.

Explaining that the biodiesel facility was conceived partly in response to the impact escalating global oil prices were having on Bahamas Waste's cost base, Mr de Cardenas said a key challenge would be to switch the company's fleet to use biodiesel.

With there being relatively little technical information published on biodiesel and its use by heavy duty vehicles, Mr de Cardenas said: "We're doing a lot of studying and investigation of what we can and can't do."

He suggested that Bahamas Waste's vehicles could use between 20-50 per cent biodiesel, with the older vehicles likely to be able to use a higher percentage. "We're going to try and use as much as we can," Mr de Cardenas said. "Some vehicles might be able to use 100 per cent."

Published On:Tuesday, October 27, 2009