Two Global Brands are Helping Haiti Turn Its Trash Into an Industry
by Adele Peters
Originally posted on FastCo Exist
Walking past some canals in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, all you can see is trash: the water is filled with plastic bottles, bags, and other litter, slowly floating toward the ocean. The city doesn't have a municipal recycling system, and recyclables that make it into trash cans usually go to the landfill. As global oil prices have dropped—reducing demand for recycled plastic—local trash pickers have been less likely to try to collect empty bottles.
Now some companies are trying to directly help create new demand for recycling. HP, which uses recycled plastic when it makes new printer cartridges, announced today that it will start buying some of that plastic from Haiti. Timberland will use recycled polyester, made from some of the same plastic, to make shoes and bags.
