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| Mario
Donis demonstrates new plastic grinder at San Pedro
Distributors
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Everybody complains but nobody does
anything about it. Well that is not the case for one Belize company. Bowen &
Bowen Ltd. has taken it upon themselves to help eliminate some of the plastic
garbage in the country. Just recently Bowen &
Bowen Ltd. started distributing Coke, Sprite and Fanta soda in clear plastic
bottles. This caused some alarm to this community, since at times, it already
seemed to be bathed in plastic litter. This is no longer a problem, as two
efforts are already in place to remedy the situation. Bowen & Bowen's
solution to this excess plastic waste is that Coke, Sprite and Fanta plastic
soda bottles be returned to the distributor for a five cent refund. This
encourages the population not to toss their empties into the street or yard.
Secondly, the company offers to also receive (without refund-sorry!) Crystal
water bottles for chipping in their grinders, set up at their distributors
across Belize. Ordered some time ago from Mexico, San
Pedro Distributors has finally received their much needed grinder for the
island's plastic bottles. However, Bowen and Bowen Ltd. will only grind the
plastic bottles they distribute. When a large amount of the company's plastic
bottles are collected, the machine is plugged in and put to work. Caps are
removed and bottles flattened before being fed through the top into the hopper.
The middle section contains a cone-shaped grinder which feeds into a metal waste
basket in the bottom. Ricky Lanza of San Pedro Distributors told the San Pedro Sun, "It takes a very large quantity of
plastic bottles to amount to even a handful of chips." Approximately 500 bottles
have been ground to date and this has only filled a three-foot square box half
way. Recycling these chips is the other
issue. These chips are not melted down and recycled into new plastic bottles.
Mr. Lanza explained he will be experimenting with his collection, using them in
cement as foundation or plaster, not only for their bonding strength, but for
the color effect. Suggestions are needed, so anyone with any ideas on how to
make use of these quarter-inch plastic chips may submit them to their local
distributor. So, let's clean up San Pedro! San Pedro
Distributors is ready to chip away your plastic bottle woes!
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